Vampires 2: Neo Domino
by Twilight PhoenixFyre
Summary: Yusei got caught up in something he shouldn't have, starting a chain reaction that could have dire consequences for the entire of Neo Domino City. Bad news, he wasn't the only one. Good news, a few of them are old friends. 'T' for cursing and violence
1. Prologue, Falling

**Kairi: Holy crap. Short prologue... Well, I wanted to try this and see what kind of a reception it got before I started focusing all of my writing time on it, seeing as how I'm now relying on my dad's computer, and I can only pull about an hour and a half of time out of it before I have to go to school. I'm working on A Spatial Tear, I'm fixing Destiny Call and Feather Faith, just give me a little time... Oh, and a quick warning, there will be very little dueling in this story.**

**Lillith: Quit yapping and get going with the story!**

**Kairi: Fine, fine. Do the disclaimer.**

**Lillith: Kairi/Twilight PhoenixFyre does not own Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's, but she does own any and all OC's.**

**Kairi: Okay, enjoy the short prologue.**

* * *

**_Vampires 2 - Neo Domino, Prologue_**

Yusei was on his knee, trying to keep his breathing steady. How could this duel be going so badly? He still had Stardust Dragon on the field, but so long as Twilight Shield was active, the majestic beast's effects were negated. And he was so close to losing.

"What's the matter? Having trouble?" his opponent sneered. A black hood covered his face, making his identity a secret. "If you give up now, you lose, and if you lose, you fall over the cliff," he reminded the signer. Yusei grit his teeth and stood, shakily.

"I'm not finished until your life points hit zero," he said. "And since you've finished your turn, it's mine. Draw!" Yusei looked at the card with a slight bit of pride. "Now you're in trouble, because I summon the level one monster, Stardust Xiaolong. Next I activate Double Summon, so that I can summon another monster this turn. So come to the field, Majestic Dragon! Now I'll tune Stardust Xiaolong with Stardust Dragon and Majestic Dragon! _From three will come one, and from one will come great cosmic might!_ Come forth, Majestic Star Dragon!"

"Too little too late, Yusei! I activate my trap, Midnight's Rage!" the stranger shouted. "Now, when you Syncro summon a monster, you take damage equal to its level times two hundred!"

"But that means—"

"That's right Yusei. Thanks to Twilight Shield's effect, Majestic Star Dragon's effects are negated during the turn it's summoned. And since you only have 1300 life points left, you're finished. Permanently!" he laughed. Yusei screamed in pain when the final blow hit him, causing him to fall back and off the cliff. The last thing he remembered thinking clearly was that there seemed to be a lighter spot in the water a few meters away from where he was going to land.

* * *

Crow was pacing again. This fact annoyed the heck out of Kalin, but the blue-haired man didn't say anything, knowing that it was an exercise in futility. He also knew that it was nine o'clock and Yusei wasn't home yet, but that fact really didn't concern him too much either. Then Crow passed him again and he sighed.

"Crow, why don't you go to bed? We can leave the door unlocked for one night. Yusei will be in his bed by morning," Kalin suggested. Crow stopped pacing for a moment to think. Many minutes later, the carrot-head sighed.

"Fine, one night. I'm just worried about him," Crow conceded. Kalin nodded.

"I'm concerned too, but Yusei can take care of himself. So don't worry about it quite so much. I'm sure he'll be home by the time we all wake up," Kalin told him. Crow was silent as he walked up the stairs. "I just hope I'm right," Kalin mumbled. "There are older and more sinister forces than the dark signers in this world."

* * *

**(The next day, almost midnight)**

As the action in the city quieted down, a young man slowly woke up in a cave, which was well-hidden from the rest of the world. Yusei groaned and rolled over, pulling a blanket around him. He yawned and opened his eyes, then started feeling around for a flashlight or light switch, before realizing that he didn't need one. Even though it was pitch-black, he could see every detail of the dark room he was in, although most of it simply looked like it had been made out of a large chunk of rock. The bed he slept on was the only thing in the room aside from himself. He inhaled deeply, noting the slightly musky, moldy, and certainly wet scent of the cave. Then he smelled something else. An odd berry-like scent and an equally odd minty scent. Then a young girl walked in. She was maybe fifteen, with snow-white skin and light, golden eyes. Her lithe form seemed to dance across the floor to sit on the edge of his bed. Her silvery blonde hair fell past her waist, a waterfall of smooth silk.

"You're awake," she stated, her light, bell-like voice chiming softly. "I brought you this. I imagine you're thirsty," she told him. In fact, now that she had mentioned it, the scent of the odd liquids was causing the back of his throat to burn. He reached out and held the goblet she handed him shakily, looking upon the cool, red liquid carefully.

"What is this?" he asked her. She shook her head.

"Drink first, then I'll tell you," she said. Yusei looked down and took a deep breath before drinking a little of it. It tasted like it smelled, only stronger. The wild berry mix was delicious, and Yusei drank more of it, finishing the goblet quickly. Only now, his throat seemed to be burning even more.

"Blood," the girl whispered once he finished. Yusei stared at her uncomprehendingly. She smiled slightly. "It's blood," she repeated. Yusei was still confused at first, and then the meaning of her words sank in and his heart froze.

"What the hell have you turned me into?" he breathed. She drank some of her own liquid, which Yusei guessed was more blood.

"The same thing I am. It was the only way to save your life," she told him. Yusei felt the cold blood in his body fade from his face.

"Vampire."

* * *

**Kairi****: As I was saying earlier, whether or not I continue this story depends on what you guys think of it. So please REVIEW! And I will hopefully see all of you... sometime... I don't have a set update schedule. Never have, never will, most likely. Sorry.**

**Lillith: More reviews = Faster and better updates. And reviewing really doesn't take that long.**

**Kairi: Alright, we're outta here! -poofs, dragging Lillith away as she goes-**


	2. Chapter 1, Illusions

**Kairi: ...Wow. I honestly didn't expect to get that good of a reception with this story... Okay. Here's the first chapter. The chapters in this story are shorter than my normal chapters that I write... But it's a nice change from trying to type up about 50k words in a total of... maybe fourteen hours... Hehe...**

**Lillith: Kairi...**

**Kairi: Alright, alright. Oh, and big thanks to anonymous reviewers Marlene101 and Midnight Rose!**

**Reviewer Responses: (Marlene101) Thanks, and yeah, that's basically the prologue. it gets even more interesting later. (Midnight Rose) Great! And anyway, there will be a little YuseiXAkiza at first, but later it'll change. And there won't be much of either pairing really... I tend to avoid pairings in my stories.**

**Destiny: Kairi doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's.**

**Kairi: What the heck are you doing here? -turns to readers- Enjoy the story while I interrogate her...**

* * *

_**Vampires 2 - Neo Domino, Chapter 1**_

Jack was pissed. Crow was anxious. And Kalin was… hiding every emotion he was feeling. Again. Which was why Jack was pissed.

"Why the hell aren't you worried about Yusei? You just sit there, reading whatever the hell you happen to have on hand, and our friend is out there somewhere! We don't even know if he's still alive!" Jack shouted at him. Kalin sighed.

"Jack, he's fine," the bluenette insisted. "In fact, I'm fairly sure that he just walked in the door," Kalin added as he heard the door shut. Crow jumped to the kitchen door and breathed a sigh of relief, then growled.

"Where the hell have you been?" he yelled. Jack ran over to join Crow in the scolding of Yusei. "We've been worried sick about you!"

"Sorry guys. I got attacked on my way home the night before last," Yusei told them. Kalin finally got up and walked through the kitchen door.

"At least you're safe now," he said. Yusei looked shocked at Kalin's sudden appearance.

"Kalin! When did you get here?" he asked. The bluenette smiled.

"Seven-thirty, the night you disappeared on us. Do me a favor? Try not to disappear again," he told Yusei. The raven-haired man smiled and nodded.

"Got it."

"So why did it take you over thirty-six hours to get back home?" Crow asked. Yusei sighed.

"Can we all sit down? My neck's starting to hurt from looking up at you guys," he told them. The four men made it back to the kitchen table. "I already told you guys that I got attacked. Anyways, they knocked me out real quick, and last thing I remembered seeing was a white blotch running into the fray. When I woke up almost twenty-four hours later, I found myself in what I guessed at the time to be someone's guest bedroom. It was actually a girl's bedroom, and she insisted that I stay the night. She gave me food and left me to go back to sleep."

"Wait, what about the 'white blotch running into the fray?'" Jack asked.

"I asked her about that, and she claimed that she didn't know, that she had just found me unconscious on the ground. I know that it doesn't add up, and it confuses me too," he told them. "Anyways, I'm way behind on that new engine, so can I get to work on it now or do you guys have a million other questions?"

"I'll help you with the engine," Kalin volunteered. The two went back downstairs. Crow looked at Jack.

"Something's up," Jack said, reading the carrot-head's thoughts. Crow nodded.

"Yusei never would've gotten knocked unconscious, and he wouldn't have accepted that girl's hospitality. He's not telling us the truth, or at least not the whole truth."

* * *

That night, Yusei opened his bedroom window. Crow was still on high alert, and going out a door would set him off immediately. So Yusei was going to jump out of the window. It wasn't a difficult feat; in fact, it was quite easy for the newly-turned vampire. He landed perfectly in the streets and started running. It didn't take him long to reach the cliff where he had fallen, and from there, he turned left, running along the cliff's edge into the forest. He angled right not long after entering the forest, and came to a stop in front of a huge tree. He glanced around him, sniffing the air to make sure that he hadn't been followed. Then he jumped up, climbing the tree and disappearing into the hollow trunk through an opening halfway up.

Yusei emerged in an unlighted hallway, cut from rock. It didn't matter that he didn't have light; like the night before, he could see every detail perfectly. He grimaced as he remembered arguing with the girl that morning. She had warned him that it would be hard for him to control himself, and she had been right. In fact, it had taken him two hours to adjust to the scent of human blood, enough so that he had been fairly certain that he wouldn't hurt his friends.

But even now, the blood-scents of Crow and Kalin stuck in his nostrils. Jack's blood had smelled like mint, something Yusei wasn't too fond of. But Kalin's had been white chocolate, and Crow's had smelled very berry-like. So he had come back to the girl's cave, hoping that she wouldn't be too angry. He hadn't wanted to, but it was impossible to deny that he wasn't going to be able to do this alone.

He emerged into the only part of the cavern that was lighted to find her reading a book by an enchanted fireplace. Yusei knew it wasn't normal because the flames were blue, and while they were giving off light, they didn't give off heat or smoke. The girl turned around in her chair and smiled.

"I knew you'd come back. And judging from the weak scent on you, you didn't bite anyone," she said. Then she sniffed for another moment. "Is that… white chocolate?"

"Why should I tell you? I don't want my friends to join your little blood bank," Yusei growled back. The girl sighed.

"It's so rude of me, I know," she said. Yusei was about to agree when she stood up, six inches shorter than the man. "I haven't told you my name yet. I'm Lillith."

"Yusei, but you already knew that," Yusei mumbled. Lillith smiled and waved for him to follow her.

"True. But if I may…" she stopped and sniffed at Yusei again. "Hmm, spearmint." Yusei sighed, finally giving up on attempting keeping her attention off of his friends. "And anyways, you know I don't drain them dry when I add to my blood bank. Only a little," she added. Yusei rolled his eyes.

"Look, if I didn't think I was going to kill someone by biting them, I wouldn't be here. I don't want to become a murderer just because I can't control myself," he told her. She nodded and turned a corner, into a much colder part of the cavern. Yusei didn't feel the cold though, just as he hadn't felt the warmth of the sunlight earlier that day. He hadn't burned in the sunlight, and he had stood outside in it for many minutes, but he couldn't feel its warmth. He sighed as she pulled out a couple of goblets and proceeded further in. Yusei could smell the blood, kept cool and fresh here in the coldest part of the cavern. Different scents mingled, but among them, mint was the most powerful.

"You don't like mint, do you?" Lillith asked. Yusei shook his head. "No, I didn't think so. How about more berry then?" She stood next to a basin in the wall, filled with blood. She filled the goblet in her right hand with the blood from the basin, which just refilled itself, and handed it to Yusei before filling the second one with minty-smelling blood.

"Enjoy," she said, raising her glass in a mock toast. Yusei sighed before drinking the blood given to him. He finished it quickly, much to Lillith's amusement. "Drink as much as you want, Yusei. I know how hard it is to control the urges. I also know that you don't want to take any chances," she told him. "I'm not going to pressure you into anything. I wouldn't have turned you if I thought there was another way. Do as you like, I'll not stand in your way."

"Lillith," Yusei whispered. He refilled his goblet reluctantly. "Thank you."

* * *

**(Three months later)**

Kalin laughed at the sight before him. Carly, Akiza, and Misty had decided that the group needed to go to a Halloween Dance or whatever it was. Akiza was, ironically, dressed up as a witch, though she was a good witch and Misty was dressed up as the evil witch. Luna was a fairy, and Leo was supposed to be a knight to protect the fairy. Kalin was going as a cowboy (easy for him, he pretty much was one), and Carly was going as a sorceress. Jack was supposed to be a sorcerer, to match Carly. And then there was the situation with Crow and Yusei. Yusei hadn't wanted to go, and neither had Crow, but Luna had convinced them. However, they were both going as vampires.

Yusei was trying to fix Crow's costume, and they were arguing over it, getting a few laughs from the onlookers.

"You poke me in the side again and I'll bite your head off," Crow grumbled. Yusei smiled.

"Keep threatening me and I'll bite you first," the raven-haired man replied. Crow growled at Yusei, but kept quiet. "There," Yusei said, smoothing out the black material. "Now get out my face before I prove that you're actually a human."

"Are boys done arguing over who gets first blood tonight?" Akiza teased. Yusei chuckled a little and revealed the shiny white fangs that were a part of his costume.

"We quit arguing over who gets first blood, but we haven't decided who is first blood yet," he joked back. Akiza held her hands to her throat in mock horror as Yusei laughed and embraced her. Yusei and Crow were really just wearing darker versions of their own clothes, but it still had the desired effect.

"Shall we be going then? It starts at eight," Carly announced. Jack nodded and followed her out the door. Yusei, Crow, Jack, Carly, and Kalin were taking their duel runners, while Luna and Leo and Akiza rode with Misty. Kalin grabbed his hat and handed it to Crow before getting on his duel runner. Crow also took Carly's and Jack's cloaks so that they could ride without them getting in the way. They made their way to the Duel Academy gymnasium where the dance was being held.

There was a long, showy little charade that was made of getting in there, but they made it in without too many problems. Akiza and Yusei made their way out onto the dance floor rather quickly, as did Kalin and Misty and Jack and Carly. Crow and the twins were watching from the sidelines when the other two teams showed up.

"Hey. How're the little buddies?" Broder asked, surprising Crow. Crow sighed and laughed, shaking his head at the other trickster's antics.

"They're doing fine. What're you doing here anyways?" Crow asked. Broder shrugged.

"We came to visit, met up with Team Unicorn at the airport, they told us about this party, and we all decided to come. Let's try to find Halldor in this mess. He should be easy enough to locate; he's a vampire," Broder joked. Then he took a second look at Crow. "And so are you."

"And so is Yusei," Crow added, laughing. Broder laughed as well, and the two walked away to find the two other 'vampires.' However, back in the shadows, a teenage boy laughed to himself.

"Crow doesn't know just how right he is," he muttered to himself. He walked out of the gymnasium, heading straight for the forest. About a mile in, there was a clearing. Once the boy reached the edge of the woods, he started running, heading for the clearing, at an unnatural speed. As he emerged in the clearing and his black hair fell back into place, four shapes emerged from the shadows.

They were wolves, larger than the normal kind. The largest walked up to the boy and looked him in the eye.*Who did she turn this time?* the alpha asked him. The boy smiled.

"Yusei Fudo."

* * *

**Kairi: I'm working on it!**

**Destiny: No, you're not.**

**Kairi: I've got like, eight other stories to write too, you know. Plus beta'ing all of Tony's stuff, plus school and homework, plus the shit going on at my house with my dad having cancer, plus my mom refusing to let me on a computer to type while she's in the computer room, plus-**

**Lillith: -turning away from the arguing girls- Ahem... I apologize for their behavior. Destiny's pissed off because Kairi isn't working on Destiny Call. Anyway, please review! Kairi would like to get at least two reviews before she puts the next chapter up. And we'll see you then! -poofs, dragging Kairi and Destiny with her-**


	3. Chapter 2, Gone

**Kairi: Wow. This story is much more popular than I thought it would be. As a treat to all my lovely readers, and especially the ones who reviewed, I'm giving you guys this chapter early. Oh, and on the subject of early... I'm only going to update once a week, every Wednesday.**

**Reviewer Repsonses: Vordax0110 - Thanks! Here's an update for you! (Marlene101) - Yes, Team Unicorn and Team Ragnarok will be in the whole thing. What can I say? I like them. As for who the boy was... you'll find out. Much later. And here's another chapter. (Midnight Rose) - lol... Thanks, and here you go!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's. If I did, there would have been a lot more of Team Ragnarok and Team Unicorn.**

**Kairi: Enjoy chapter 2!**

* * *

"Please tell me I can get out of this costume soon!" Leo complained as the group walked to their duel runners and Misty's car. Luna rolled her eyes.

"You can take it off as soon as we get home, Leo," she told him. Most of the group was waiting for them when they got to the vehicles. However, Yusei, Crow, Jack, Halldor, Broder, Andre, Jean, and Breo were still in the gymnasium. Dragan had left earlier with Kalin, and Akiza and Carly had followed not long after.

The parking lot was full, so they had to walk quite a ways to get to their vehicles. Yusei was laughing at one of Broder's jokes when he heard the sound. It sounded like breathing. He stopped and looked at the forest nearby, fearing what he thought he could hear just beyond the trees. Halldor stopped a few yards away as he noticed that Yusei had fallen back.

"Yusei," he called. Yusei heard, but didn't move. Then, without any warning, they attacked.

There were four wolves, but they were huge. The largest was black, two were silver, and the smallest was a rusty brown color. And all four of them were targeting Yusei. Crow, who had turned around just in time to see the wolves come out of the forest, screamed Yusei's name. However, in the split seconds between the time the wolves left the shelter of the forest and the time Crow screamed, Yusei had disappeared. Or rather, he had disappeared to human eyes. He had, in fact, simply started running.

The wolves, however, didn't feel like running, and instead turned on the group of seven humans. The humans fell into a tight circle, staring out at their attackers fearfully. None of them was sure about what was going to happen.

Then, out of nowhere, Yusei appeared. He hissed at the wolves. The plastic fangs were gone, but the fangs underneath, though not as long, were plenty sharp. Crow wasn't sure what to be more afraid of; Yusei or the wolves. The black wolf attacked Yusei before Crow could figure that out, and as soon as the black wolf attacked, the others attacked him as well. But Yusei wasn't going to let them hurt him. He attacked them back, then started running. This time, they followed.

The group stood and stared in shock at the forest, where Yusei and the wolves had just disappeared. Then Luna came running over.

"Guys! Guys, are you okay? Where's Yusei? Were those wolves I just saw?" she asked them. Crow took a moment to steady his breathing, but Halldor answered her questions first.

"We're fine, though I honestly couldn't answer the second question. As for what you just saw, I believe that those were not regular wolves, but, in fact, werewolves," he told her, though somewhat shakily at first. Luna seemed shocked.

"Where's Yusei? What happened to Yusei?" she asked, desperate for answers.

Andre took a deep breath. "Luna… I think Yusei is a vampire. And I'm not referring to his costume. I think he is actually a vampire."

* * *

**Two days later, noon…**

Kalin heard the door open and close quietly. _Moment of truth,_ he thought. "He's here," he told the group at the table. Said group consisted of Team 5D's, as well as Halldor and Andre. Sure enough, not minutes after Kalin's warning, Yusei walked into the slightly crowded kitchen. He didn't look at all surprised to see everyone sitting around the table.

"Hey, guys. Someone want to tell me why I woke up in the middle of the forest yesterday?" he asked. Halldor sighed.

_A clever ruse,_ he thought. _Make us think that we were just hallucinating and pretend that you don't know anything. But it won't work._

"Actually, we were wondering where you were, and what happened the night of the dance," Jack said. Yusei walked over to the fridge and opened it. "What are you looking for?" Jack added.

"Uh, food?" he replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But surely you don't need what's in there," Halldor said. Yusei closed the refrigerator and looked at him curiously.

"I haven't eaten since lunchtime the night of the dance. Would you like to fix that comment?" he asked. Halldor kept his gaze level with the turbo duelist.

"Stop pretending, Yusei. Seven of us saw you attack the werewolves on Halloween night. All we want now are a few answers," he said. Akiza stood up as Yusei looked confusedly around the room.

"No, Yusei, they're mistaken! You aren't a vampire!" she cried, holding on to him. Yusei closed his eyes and his face became sad. "You can't be… Can you?"

"Akiza, I'm sorry," Yusei whispered. He looked around the room. "I didn't want it to come to this." Akiza stared, slowly stepping back out of shock.

"How long?" Crow asked. Yusei crossed his arms.

"Three months ago. That night I disappeared and then reappeared two days later, I was dueling someone. His deck was designed to specifically counter mine, and no matter what I did, I couldn't beat him. He was psychic too, and we were dueling over on the cliffs," Yusei told them. "When I lost, I fell. I don't remember what happened between then and the next night, but I do know that Lillith found me. I would have died if she hadn't turned me."

"Hang on, I don't get it. I thought vampires were supposed to burn in the sunlight," Leo said. Jack facepalmed and Yusei chuckled.

"I asked Lillith about that. Apparently, during the twenty-four hour period it takes to turn, a vampire can be burned by sunlight. Otherwise, he or she is safe," Yusei explained. Halldor looked serious though.

"You've been a vampire for three months, and yet you look completely human… I've heard more about vampires than you would think, and the little detail about only burning while your becoming a vampire confirms what I first suspected. You would have to be feeding at least every other day to look this human. Where is the blood coming from?" he asked. Yusei looked uncomfortable.

"I think you can answer that. Taking blood doesn't require killing," he said after a few moments, unconsciously glancing at Crow. Halldor noticed the direction Yusei's eyes had moved though, and scanned Crow's neck for the telltale markings. He couldn't find one, but—

"Why are you staring at me?" Crow asked him. Halldor reached out and moved Crow's collar just a bit to reveal the slightly paler semi-circle that he had finally spotted.

"When was this?" Halldor asked. Yusei scratched the back of his head.

"Forget when! Why did you bite him? And who else in here did you bite?" Jack yelled.

"An older vampire like Lillith would be able to put exact dates to each of the scars on Crow, of which there are seven, and the one on Kalin. Make a list of all the days that the two of them locked the doors and the windows, and you'll find a pattern," Yusei told them. Crow's head hit the table and Kalin actually started laughing. Jack looked at him incredulously.

"How can you be laughing?" he yelled. Halldor sighed.

"While I'm sure it would have been easy enough for Yusei to unlock the windows and doors, my guess is that he thought it more fitting that the idiots who locked him in be his meals. Though, I must ask, was it only the two of them or someone else as well?" Halldor asked. Yusei shook his head.

"Just those two. And only once on Kalin. And don't ask me why, because you really do not want to know," Yusei replied. Jack sighed and left.

"And where are you going?" Crow asked as the blonde walked past. Jack didn't answer.

"His room," Yusei answered a moment later, after Jack was out of sight.

"How do you know?" Luna asked. Yusei smiled slightly.

"Vampires happen to have very good hearing, and I've purposely made it so that the only bedroom door that squeaks at all is Jack's. Mostly because he likes to come straight out of his room and barge into mine every once in a while," Yusei said. Kalin allowed himself another chuckle.

"How you can laugh in the middle of all this is really a mystery," Andre said quietly.

"It's quite simple. Find humor and forget the rest," Kalin replied. Yusei sighed sadly.

"Speaking of retreating into rooms, I've been running up, down, and sideways since the other night. I'm in dire need of a little sleep," Yusei said, walking away before his friends could question him. In his room, he sat on his bed and thought about the past few months. Then, nearly an hour after locking himself away from the others, Yusei came to a simple decision.

"I have to leave."

* * *

**(Two years later)**

"Crow! I need some help with these boxes!" Kalin shouted from inside the new apartment. The orange-haired man in question ran to his friend's aid quickly, only to find that Kalin was trapped inside a barricade of the boxes in question. Jack and Akiza, who walked in moments later, found themselves clutching their stomachs as they examined the 'fortress' that Kalin was trapped in.

"Hellooooo~! Anyone out there?" Kalin called from behind the wall of boxes. Crow, who was already relying on the wall for support, finally burst out laughing. Akiza and Jack began laughing out loud shortly after.

Kalin, still trapped behind the boxes, let out a heavy sigh. "You guys are always so helpful," he muttered sarcastically. Then the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Crow managed to yell as he ran out of the kitchen. He was still laughing when he opened the door to reveal Broder and Dragan. "Hey guys. Glad you found the new address alright!" he greeted them. However, the duo's matching somber expressions caused Crow's smile to fade as he realized which member of Team Ragnarok wasn't present.

"Come on in," he said quietly.

"Crow! I'd like to get out of Chateau de Sink!" Kalin yelled as soon as Crow closed the door behind the two duelists. Crow, despite knowing that something had happed to Halldor, started laughing again.

"Do I even want to know?" Broder asked. Crow managed to stumble back into the kitchen, where Akiza and Jack were still too busy laughing to help Kalin out. Broder, who had finally figured out what was so funny, burst out laughing as well. Dragan smiled and shook his head before walking over to the pile of boxes before strategically removing them in the hopes that they wouldn't fall on Kalin. Of course, plans never work out the way you want them to. However, rather than them falling on Kalin, as Dragan had feared they would, they instead fell on… Crow? Dragan sighed as he realized that the Blackwing duelist had tried to knock the wall down onto Kalin.

"Uh… Help?" Crow asked. Dragan shook his head and helped the redhead out from under the boxes.

"So, why are you two here, exactly? You didn't look too happy when you walked through that door," Jack asked. Broder sighed as Dragan helped Crow to his feet.

"Halldor is missing."

* * *

**Kairi: Oooh... Cliffy! And I'm going to make you all wait until next Wednesday... Aren't I cruel?**

**Lillith: If you want another early update, I suggest reviewing!**

**Kairi: Three should be compensation enough for an early update... So review! For yourself and your fellow readers! -poofs-**

**Lillith: -sighs- And we aren't even getting into the actual story yet... -poofs-**


	4. Chapter 3, Shadows

**Kairi: I'm back! Anyway, I was planning on coming back yesterday, but we had this really weird storm system and mom was keeping everyone off of the computers.**

**Lillith: We received four reviews, so here's the next chapter, early as promised.**

**Kairi: And I messed up last week, since I updated on a Tuesday, the next update day would have been a Tuesday… (Whoops…) Oh well. Reviewer Responses!**

**Vordax0110- Hehe, I know. I know I know I know. But lookie! It's Monday! Netri Vi Britannia- Thanks. Well, it's Monday, so here you go! (Marlene1010)- Really? It's that good? Oh well… Things are still heating up. (Midnight Rose)- They are… In the next chapter. Or this one. Or neither… Hehehe… I shall not tell you my secrets… But anyways… Thanks. Here's the next chapter, hope you love it too.**

**Destiny: Kairi does not own Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's, but any and all OC's are hers.**

**Lillith: This isn't your story, why are you here?**

**Kairi: She had nothing better to do, so I let her help out with this one. Anyways, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"_So, why are you two here, exactly? You didn't look too happy when you walked through that door," Jack asked. Broder sighed as Dragan helped Crow to his feet._

"_Halldor is missing."_

* * *

"He went out a few weeks ago to investigate a disappearance in a mountain range. There's a valley deep within the mountains," Dragan explained an hour later as the six adults sat in the living room. "Aerial photos of the valley have been taken before, and they all show the same thing. Forests, a lake at one end, and a clearing with an old castle at the other."

"And whenever someone goes to investigate, they disappear," Broder added.

"We were planning on heading into the mountains next week, but then Jean called us up. It seems Breo and Andre also went to investigate the disappearances and went missing themselves," Dragan explained.

"Let me guess; you want us to come with you guys," Crow said. Dragan shook his head.

"Jean asked us to update you; whether you come or not is entirely up to you… But with the way things have been going, I wouldn't suggest it," he told him. Jack glared at him.

"I'm not going to sit back knowing that my friends could be in danger. I'm coming with you!" he grumbled. Kalin and Akiza exchanged a look and sighed.

"I guess that's that, then. Where one of us goes, the others tend to follow," Akiza said. Kalin smiled slightly.

"So, when are we leaving?" he asked.

Broder smiled. "We're meeting up with Jean on Tuesday. We'll leave the following Thursday."

* * *

**(Three weeks later…)**

"Does anyone else feel like they're being watched?"

"For the thousandth time, Crow, shut up!" Jack snapped at the orange-haired man. Crow sighed.

"Seriously, though. Is it just me being paranoid or what?" he asked. Jean looked up at the tree branches arching overhead.

"It's not just you," he said. "But I've also got this really bad feeling in my stomach."

"Yeah… Like something's watching us, just waiting to make us its next meal," Broder mumbled. Far above them in the tree branches, however, five shadows snickered quietly.

"Maybe something is," a strange, hissing voice told the group on the ground. The snickering above stopped immediately. A brown-haired woman with dark crimson eyes and pale skin emerged from the shadows. Her hair had a silvery quality to it. Behind her, two wolves and another woman stepped out of the shadows. The second woman had hair that was so silvery that it was hard to tell that it was actually black, and her eyes were a bright red.

One of the wolves was black, and the other, taller wolf was light brown. They snarled at the group, and the humans shrunk back into a huddle.

"Well that explains why everyone goes missing when they come here," Crow stated. The women smiled, leaving their fangs bare and easy to see.

"Dinnertime, Lolly," the brunette said, the hiss of her voice barely reaching the humans' ears. The wolves snarled, and the brunette hissed at them. "Ladies first."

Then, without warning, the brunette rushed forward, the smaller woman following her quickly. Crow closed his eyes, waiting for the pain of being bitten… but it never came.

His eyes shot open to see three werewolves and two more vampires standing between them and the quartet from before. A rust-colored werewolf stood in the middle, with a sandy-gold wolf to his left. The largest wolf was silver, and stood to the rust-colored wolf's right. Between the rust-colored wolf and the wolf with the sandy-gold coat was a male vampire, and the other, standing in a similar position on the other side of the rust-colored wolf, was female. The vampires both wore hoods.

"Talia, Lolliette, Armand, Rosco," the new female greeted them. The addressed quartet snarled at her.

"Rosalie," the brunette, Talia, hissed. Rosalie lowered her hood, revealing short, spiky, ash-blonde hair and silvery-gray eyes. "And Lucian. How good to see you two again." The silver wolf growled at Talia.

"You four were outlawed by the Shadow Guild for a reason. Leave this land, or leave us with no alternative but to terminate the four of you," Rosalie said calmly but coldly. Talia scowled.

"We're not leaving until we've fed," she informed them. Rosalie sighed.

"Then you should have caught these guys two miles back. They're on our land now. You've got once last chance to turn around and leave," she replied. Talia and Lolliette exchanged a glance.

"Fine," Lolliette said clearly in a bell-like voice. "We don't need to cause any trouble here." She turned away and began walking through the forest. The werewolves followed her, but her vampire companion didn't. She looked over her shoulder. "Talia," she called. Talia bared her teeth.

"No!" the brunette screamed, running towards the male vampire. As Rosalie and her companion rushed forward to meet the brunette, Lolliette watched. When the three vampires slowed enough that the humans could see them, Talia was bloody and unsteady on her feet, whereas neither Rosalie nor her companion had a scratch on their bodies.

"No," Talia whispered, falling forward. Lolliette sighed.

"I'm sorry. I wish things hadn't come to that," she told the group of werewolves and vampires. "We'll be leaving then." And with that, she and the two werewolves with her turned around, and, after walking a few yards, ran off into the forest.

That was interesting, one of the werewolves commented. Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"Talia was the entire reason that group was exiled. With her gone, it's like those three will redeem themselves," she said. "Although I've got to admit, I don't think I've seen this large of a group of humans come through that pass… ever. Have you, Lucian?"

Nope, the silver wolf replied.

"We're heading back," the male vampire whispered. Rosalie looked at him, confused.

"Why?" she asked. Before he could answer, a red-haired vampire male burst out of the forest, invisible to the human eye. Rosalie and her companions rushed forward, attacking the male before he could bite one of the humans.

When the five of them slowed down so the humans could see them, Akiza gasped. In the fight, the male vampire's hood had fallen.

"It can't be…" Crow whispered. The vampire's hand shot up to his raven hair, feeling that the hood was no longer there. He sighed and turned to look at the humans.

"Well, crap," he muttered. Then, looking the shocked Jack in the eye, he added, "Hey guys. Long time no see."

* * *

**Kairi: Hehehe…**

**Lillith: Well, that was nice. Oh well. At least you updated.**

**Kairi: Yeah… Hehehe… Four reviews for an early update! Otherwise, it's next Monday.**

**Destiny: We'll be back as soon as possible. –poofs-**

**Kairi: Yup, she said it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have her story to work on… -poofs-**

**Lillith: Review please. –poofs-**


	5. Chapter 4, Smoke

**Kairi: Okay, I have a lot of stuff to say. First of all, I won't be posting again until late August. I only posted this chapter because, well, I left everyone without telling you guys why.**

**Lillith: She lost her inspiration for ALL of her stories… And has been having trouble getting onto the computer recently.**

**Kairi: I'm posting this as an apology to hold over any remaining readers until my muses descend again. (Either that, or the plot bunnies attack.) Good news is, I finally figured out what happened to the poorly-formed plot that was once the flimsy backbone of this story. And then a plot bunny attacked it… the only one to attack this particular story during my recent write-a-thon. (120k+ words in a month! And not a bit of inspiration for this! Can you believe it? Scary…) Good news is, this story now has an extremely firm backbone/plot, and you get to see a little hint of it at the very end of the chapter.**

**Lillith: Kairi, you're getting sidetracked again.**

**Kairi: Sorry. Anyway, reviewer responses are at the bottom. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's, though I wish I did… Enjoy the filler chapter that bridges into the plot!**

* * *

"_It can't be…" Crow whispered. The vampire's hand shot up to his raven hair, feeling that the hood was no longer there. He sighed and turned to look at the humans._

"_Well, crap," he muttered. Then, looking the shocked Jack in the eye, he added, "Hey guys. Long time no see."_

* * *

Akiza was, to say the least, a little shocked. "Yusei?" she whispered, almost afraid that he wasn't really there. But the man in front of them smiled sadly and nodded, and the shock was replaced with relief and confusion.

"Where have you been the last two years?" Jack finally exploded. Akiza and Kalin sighed, but Yusei just chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

"I'm not sure if I prefer his anger issues or Lara's insanity," Yusei muttered. Rosalie smirked, and the silver wolf started… barking? Akiza assumed that it was as close to a bark as the wolves could get. "Anyways, I've been here for nineteen months now… I spent a few months before that just wandering."

"You maybe want to explain why everyone that walks in here goes missing?" Crow asked, a little annoyed. Yusei sighed.

"Why don't we head back to base? I'd rather not just stand around here," he said. Rosalie nodded.

"Lucian and I will go ahead," she said before turning into a blur and disappearing altogether. The werewolf seemed to roll his eyes before running after her. Yusei glared after them.

"Sure, leave me with the humans. Way to look after the younglings, Rose," Yusei grumbled. The wolves were the only ones that caught his comment, and they let out barking laughs at the vampire. "Shut up."

One of the wolves turned to the humans. *Come on, a* vaguely familiar voice said. He took off at a jog, and his sandy-colored companion followed him. Yusei rolled his eyes.

"Come on," he echoed. Crow and the others exchanged looks before deciding to follow him.

"Hey, you haven't seen Halldor, Andre, or Breo recently, have you?" Broder asked. Yusei glanced at the red wolf at his side. He nodded and jogged ahead a bit, then raised himself up onto his hind legs and shape-shifted.

"Okay… I'm guessing that he's Breo," Jean commented while gesturing to the other wolf as Andre fell into step next to Yusei again, this time as a human. Andre nodded.

"I'm not sure where Halldor is though," he added. Yusei opened his mouth, but closed it as his head snapped in the other direction. Everyone tensed for a moment, and then…

"Aaaaaah!" a feminine screeching reached their ears suddenly. And then a young girl, who looked no older than nine, came crashing out of the trees at an inhuman but visible speed. Yusei rolled his eyes and kept walking, ignoring the young blonde girl that was, quite literally, running in circles now. Not wanting to get lost, the humans followed him, though they all glanced over their shoulders repeatedly.

"Yuuuuseeeeeeeiiiii!" the girl screamed, running up to him. Yusei gave her a dull look, as if he was bored. The blonde stopped in front of him. "There's a really big spider back there."

Andre rolled his eyes. Meanwhile, the humans watched as Yusei and the girl held a staring contest. "Big, huh?" he asked, sounding for all the world as if he were bored out of his mind. She nodded quickly.

"Big," she echoed, holding her arms out in a circle, not quite letting her fingers touch. "Shifter big," she added. Yusei raised an eyebrow. After a few moments, Andre started snickering. The girl glared at him… then looked as if she were attempting to mimic Yusei's bored and uninterested face from earlier. "You could have told me," she said in a monotone voice.

Yusei smiled. "You'll never learn anything if others do all of the thinking for you," he told her. She rolled her eyes.

"Naw, real—Aaah!" she yelped as an extremely large wolf spider emerged from behind a tree nearby. Similar shouts of surprise came from multiple members of the human group. The spider was about as large as the blonde had indicated earlier. However, even as they all watched, it shimmered and turned into a tall man with shaggy black hair, who seemed to be in the process of standing up. A devilish grin crept across his face.

"You know, Kraven, that is an evil thing to do to an eleven-year-old," Yusei said half-heartedly. The man shrugged.

"If it gets me out of cleaning up after pop-bots, I'm happy," he replied. Yusei's smile faded into a look that his friends found didn't really belong there.

"No," he said simply. Kraven cocked his head to the side, trying to figure out what was wrong… then he bit his lip.

"Ah… shouldn't have mentioned that, should I?" he asked rhetorically. "Well… at least now you've been warned." Yusei growled, a dark, feral sound that scared Crow, Jack, and Akiza more than they would have cared to admit.

Kalin chose then to speak up. "Um… what's a pop-bot?" Yusei redirected his attention to the blue-haired man.

"An annoying little contraption that walks around for about an hour and then explodes. It also happens to be quite small, so they can get everywhere and make a huge mess, depending on how many are released," he replied, holding his hand up with his thumb and forefinger in a circle to indicate the explosive's size.

"Speaking of which…" Andre trailed off, his eyes watching something on the ground. Yusei looked down, scowled, and kicked a small silver ball away from them. It was still flying through the air when it detonated, managing to destroy a tree branch while it was at it.

"Alright, let's head back. I don't even want to know how much of a mess she's made this time," Yusei grumbled, obviously in a bad mood. Kraven nodded and shifted back into his spider form, eliciting a shriek from Bela, who promptly ran in a random direction. Crow and the others chose to follow Yusei, who seemed to actually know where he was going.

Then Breo stopped and started sniffing the air. *Yusei…* he warned. Yusei shifted and raised his own nose to sky before alarm crossed his countenance.

"Smoke," he whispered. Andre shifted back into his wolf form.

*And where there's smoke, there's fire. And Lara's pop-bots can't cause that much damage,* he muttered. Yusei scowled.

"Sabrina was right. It looks like Inya decided to pay a visit after all."

* * *

**Kairi: Yeah, not a great chapter, but you start to meet a few people. Also, before I get to the reviewer responses, I want to make another little announcements. I'm having trouble deciding what I should turn Jack into. (Obviously, if Yusei's a vampire, they're all going to get pulled into whatever's going on, and in the supernatural world, being human is not a good thing. Bella from Twilight can tell you that. [No Twilight-bashing please. I don't need this to become a debate forum. Take that somewhere else.])**

**Lillith: Anyway, about Jack… She's stuck between turning him into a demon or werewolf.**

**Kairi: And I also need suggestions for Jean. I don't want to turn him into a werewolf because Andre and Breo are already weres, but I don't want to turn him into a vampire because I've got enough of those. So if you've got any suggestions, please leave them in a review.**

**Lillith: And speaking of reviews…**

**Kairi: Yup. Time for the reviewer responses! Netiri Vi Britannia- Yes, technology is annoying, isn't it? Oh well, thanks for throwing a review my way via PM since your computer didn't like you. And that is a lot of 'O's… -fails to finish counting multiple times and gives up- Oh… I hope you weren't too depressed… I was depressed when I saw how little my muses and plot bunnies attacked this particular story… And I'm sorry that I won't be able to update until August… Hang tight for me, though. It's about to get really interesting! (If I can find a frickin' plot bunny…) Vordax0110- Gah! Your username did not want to be typed! And yes, hoods do make bad disguises. And I apologize for the long update and what will be another long wait for the next chapter… (LittleBeautifly)- Hey look! You reviewed before they changed the anonymous reviews to Guest reviews! Damn it's been a long time since I updated… Sorry. Here you go, and thanks for reviewing!**

**Lillith: Also, if you're reviewing as a Guest, please leave a name or something at the end of the review to identify yourself with so Kairi can respond to you without confusing herself too badly.**

**Kairi: Yes, please do, and please review on your way out. I will see everyone in August! –poofs-**


	6. Chapter 5, Destroyed

**Kairi: I'm back! With a new chapter! Which I know you're all excited about!**

**Lillith: Stop shouting.**

**Kairi: NEVER!**

**Lillith: -nips Kairi's shoulder-**

**Kairi: Ow… Okay, I'll calm down… On another note… Reviewer Responses! FiringShootingStar- Yay! I love hearing people say that! Thanks for the input on Jack. And about Akiza… a witch is still, technically, human… As for the others… There's a bit of a hint in this chapter for one, but the hints for the rest are later on. (Next chapter… I think…) AqousRiverRere- LOL Will try… I've actually got a set schedule now and I'm getting ahead in chapters again… All good things!**

**Lillith: Okay, now that that's over… Didn't you say earlier that you had some announcements to make?**

**Kairi: Yes. First of all… There won't be any more early updates unless I hit a day when either Tony, Winx, or I am already double-updating. (Double-updates for a single story don't count, as they are meant as treats for the readers.) What this means is that if Tony is updating Bloody Nightshade and Winx and I are updating Cries in the Night (Neither of which is a Yu-Gi-Oh story, sorry) I won't update any of my stories…**

**Lillith: But if an update day for this story lines up with two other stories, this will be updated early, right?**

**Kairi: Yeah, but then it'll be a full week before the next update, since I'll be updating every six days usually.**

**Lillith: Anything else?**

**Kairi: Yes, actually. I still want opinions on what to turn people into! There's a list on my profile… Or at least, there will be whenever I get around to cleaning up the list that's at the bottom of this story in Microsoft Word…**

**Lillith: Done?**

**Kairi: Yes. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, but all OC's (and there are many) belong to me… Surprisingly, I didn't borrow any of my friends' characters. Also, I apologize for the mile-long author's notes… Now, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

_Breo stopped and started sniffing the air. *Yusei…* he warned. Yusei shifted and raised his own nose to sky before alarm crossed his countenance._

"_Smoke," he whispered. Andre shifted back into his wolf form._

_*And where there's smoke, there's fire. And Lara's pop-bots can't cause that much damage,* he muttered. Yusei scowled._

"_Sabrina was right. It looks like Inya decided to pay a visit after all."_

* * *

The group had been moving quickly for a while before they finally reached their destination, the burning remains of the castle that was always seen from the air. Huddled in groups scattered around the clearing were vampires, weres, and other beings of the supernatural. Yusei and Kraven immediately moved over to a woman Crow and the others recognized at Rosalie, who seemed to be trying to organize a small group of people.

"Ah, there you are Kraven. We were wondering where you were. Hey Yusei… What's with the big group of humans?" a young man with piercing green eyes and long black hair tied up in a ponytail asked. Yusei frowned.

"They're old friends… What happened here?" he asked, obviously trying to keep the subject off of the group. The young man sighed.

"Inya showed up, already with the intention of driving us out of here. Xephyr pissed her off even more… And now we've got eight newborn, starved, or starved newborn vampires out on the loose, including that guy you brought in a couple months ago," he explained.

"Yusei, I know you just got back, but would you mind going out with Devlin to search for them? I'm sending Lara, Lucian, Kraven, and Esmé out as well," Rosalie asked. Yusei sighed, but nodded, then looked around.

"What about the humans? And where are we all going to stay now?" he wondered. Rosalie huffed.

"Hell if I know. Just because I pretty much ran this place doesn't mean I was prepared for this…" she grumbled. "We need to get the humans out of here though. From what we figured out from Inya, she planned to take the castle for a group. If they come here, the humans won't stand a chance."

"Why don't we organize a group to escort the humans out of…" Devlin trailed off before looking out into the forest. "What the hell are those three doing back here? And what happened to Talia…?"

Rosalie raised an eyebrow. "Lolliette, Armand, and Rosco?" she asked. Devlin nodded, just moments before the trio in question ran out of the forest. A few of the people near them hissed, obviously not happy about them being here, but a small, black-haired girl with astonishingly electric-blue eyes walked right up to them.

"Thank you," she said. Most of the people around the unusual group relaxed then, and Lolliette nodded.

"You're welcome, Sora," she said. Rosalie, Yusei, and Devlin walked over. "Is there something we can do to help?" she asked them. Rosalie crossed her arms.

"In your states, not really. Unless you want to help us track down the eight missing vampires that could prove to be a hazard to the humans we're going to try to get out of the valley," she told the trio. The wolves glanced at each other for a moment before nodding and turning to look at Lolliette.

"If that will help, then we'll do it. All eight are vampires? Starved or newborn?" she wondered.

"Two starved, four newborns, and two starved newborns," Sora explained. "It's the last two you'll really have to worry about." Lolliette nodded.

"Yes, I know…" she said, as if reminding them of something. Rosalie, Sora, and Devlin nodded, all understanding what she was getting at, though Yusei didn't. Nor did he think he wanted to know.

"You probably don't," Sora told him. Yusei stared at her, confused, before he remembered how sensitive her psychic powers were. Lolliette sighed.

"I wish you all luck," she said before turning. Yusei crossed his arms.

"Hang on, you're not the only ones going out there looking. Although with the three of them helping, couldn't Esmé and Kraven help get the humans evacuated?" Yusei said, turning to Rosalie. The dirty-blonde woman nodded.

"Yup. You and Devlin go on ahead, I'll go find Lucian and Lara and send them as well," she agreed. Yusei smiled thankfully before shooting one last glance over at his friends. His eyes locked with Akiza's for a moment before he turned to the young man beside him. Just a glance was all they needed to know the other was ready, and the five of them set off into the forest, splitting up not long after breaking through the trees.

Meanwhile, Jack was getting more and more uncomfortable by the minute. There was this one woman that kept looking over at him with an almost longing, nostalgic look in her eye. Her black hair was streaked with violet, and emerald green eyes glared with an intensity barely matched by his own.

"Jack, are you even paying attention?" Crow's voice snapped him out of the semi-trance he'd just been in. He sighed.

"Not especially. Not that anything's going on, anyway," he grumbled. Akiza sighed.

"I'm afraid something does actually seem to be going on. Yusei just left with the trio that attacked us earlier," she said. Jack looked at her in shock.

"Is he out of his mind?!" he asked loudly. Crow crossed his arms.

"I don't think so… Someone else went with them," he said. He turned to Jean. "Any ideas?" The dark-haired man shook his head.

"I think I have one…" Broder said a few moments later. Everyone turned their attention to him. "Well, if the castle here was burned down and they had been living in it, what if some… not-so-controllable vampires or werewolves got out? They'd have to send people out to either stop them or keep them away from us, because we're human and weaker than they are."

"You are a very intelligent and insightful young man," a new, unfamiliar voice said. Jack froze when he realized that it was the woman who had been intermittently staring at him for the last half hour. Everyone now had their attention on the new arrival.

"And you are…?" Jean wondered. The woman crossed her arms and smirked.

"Species or name?" she countered. Crow smacked his forehead. "Watch yourself, doing that too much. You'll damage your brain cells," she added. Sighs echoed around the group.

"How about both?" Jean answered her question. She put her hands on her hips.

"Kiara Kitari. I'm a Watcher," she answered. Kalin's eyes shot up, locking with hers, and the two seemed to share a quiet conversation for a moment.

"Okay… since you seem to be the only person to whom that means anything, care to explain what a Watcher is?" Dragan asked the blue-haired man. He looked around the group quickly.

"Watchers are supposedly the guardians of world balance… They're moved from world to world depending on where they're needed most, or so the old man's story went," he answered. Kiara nodded.

"Pretty accurate, except that each of us is assigned to a world and we're only moved if absolutely necessary. Might I inquire about this 'old man' though?" she replied. Kalin crossed his arms.

"I don't remember much about him. Long blue hair though… and a British accent. I don't remember if his eyes were green or gold," he told her. Kiara looked thoughtful for a moment before she raised an eyebrow.

"…the deck was _he_ doing here…?" they heard her mutter before she rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Wait… I'm confused. How could Watchers be stationed on different worlds if there's only the one that we can reach?" Crow asked. Kiara sighed.

"There are many worlds out there. And as other worlds die, their previous occupants flee to other worlds. Earth is to the universe as the United States are to the rest of Earth. An extreme mixing pot from other regions where conditions and other such things are different," she explained. "The vampires are actually the only species, aside from humans, that are native to Earth. Weres, demons, angels, sprites, shifters… they all came from other worlds."

The humans all looked at her for a long moment in silence. "Wow… That's… well, I'd say it's hard to believe, but unless we're all having a really strange, realistic dream, all of the evidence points to it being the truth," Broder finally said.

Then Rosalie walked over to them. "Hey, we're evacuating all of the humans. Which means all of you too," she told them. "Over there," she added, pointing to another group. A few wolves and large cats were sitting around with a few short-haired but golden-eyed people and some petite individuals that all seemed to be glowing lightly the same color as their eyes.

"Weres, shifters, sprites, and Fae…" Kiara muttered. "You should be safe… Wise move on her part," the dark-haired woman said. "See you all around, I hope." After they had walked off, she glanced up at the sky, which was stained red from the smoke caused by the fire. "Because if little sis is right… then we're in for more trouble than we bargained for."

* * *

**Kairi: Haha! I'm evil, aren't I? Yes, I know I am. Oh well. Oh, and the Devlin mentioned up there is actually Duke Devlin from the original Yu-Gi-Oh... More about that later... (much later) Anyway… Next chapter… someone gets turned! My goodness, who will it be?!...**

**Lillith: Isn't it—**

**Kairi: No no no don't tell them! –hurriedly covers Lillith's mouth–**

**Lillith: -mumbles-**

**Kairi: I'm sorry, I didn't understa—Ow! –pulls hand away quickly–**

**Lillith: I said, 'remove your hand before I bite you.'**

**Kairi: -glares and poofs-**

**Lillith: -sighs and turns to audience- Sorry about that. Anyway, please review. And, just as a little challenge… If I say that the person to be turned will become a vampire, can you guess who it will be?... I highly doubt anyone will get it though… -leaves-**


	7. Chapter 6, Turned

**Kairi: Hey! Back! Okay, reviewer response time!**

**FiringShootingStar- Thanks, and you're welcome! ^-^ Well, this chapter definitely answers one of those questions, and there was a hint last chapter about one of the characters… Well, here's the chapter! Enjoy!**

**Marlene101writes- Marlene! You returned! And with an account! (I was wondering where you got off to… But don't ask me, because my brain is so totally scrambled I can't even think properly.) Yays! Thank you! Ooh… thanks for guessing, but no, Dragan will not be a vampire… As for Halldor… I dropped a couple of hints last chapter, but oh well. He'll pop up eventually…**

**Lillith: Kairi doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's, but all OC's, made-up cards, and other such things are hers.**

**Kairi: Now go read!**

* * *

"_Weres, shifters, sprites, and Fae…" Kiara muttered. "You should be safe… Wise move on her part," the dark-haired woman said. "See you all around, I hope." After they had walked off, she glanced up at the sky, which was stained red from the smoke caused by the fire. "Because if little sis is right… then we're in for more trouble than we bargained for."_

* * *

Lolliette frowned. She had definitely picked up the trail of a newborn, but it looked like this was one of the starved ones. She had to wonder to herself why any vampire would starve themselves. After all, she knew that the Shadow Guild didn't do that to anyone within their laws, and if the starved vampires on the loose were a part of the Guild, then that meant that this particular newborn was one that refused to accept what he or she was.

She sighed and continued tracking the scent. It became mingled with the humans' scents for a moment, but Lolliette could tell that the humans had gone through here after he/she did, so she continued on her way.

Off to her right, somewhere to the north, a wolf howled. Her sensitive ears recognized it as Armand's howl, and she smiled. _'One down, seven to go,'_ she thought to herself. Her footsteps fell lightly as she followed the scent trail. This newborn seemed to be rather adept at covering their… no, _his_ tracks. Lolliette was gaining on him, she could tell. And now that she was, she could scent the subtle differences that marked males and females apart.

Another howl rang through the air, but this one was mimicked. Lolliette had to think for a moment before she remembered the name of the man in question. _'Devlin… Two down, six to go,'_ she thought, carefully keeping track of the number of wild vampires.

A much more feminine howl rang out next, and Lolliette, had she been a species of canine, would have had her ears straight up in the air. "Lara's a sprite. She'd send up sparks rather than bother howling… and that voice sounds so familiar…" the vampire muttered. "Could it really be…? No, that's impossible."

Then the scent of her 'prey' flared in her nostrils, and she turned in time to watch a silvery blur run through the forest… straight for the humans.

"Ahhhrrrrrr-ahhhrrrooooooo!" she howled, chasing after him. Unlike the unbroken and breathy howls Devlin, Armand, and the mysterious woman had sent up, this one was dual-segmented. It was the warning for the people guarding the humans.

The silver-haired man was definitely starved. Lolliette couldn't see his natural hair color past the silver, and he hissed every time he passed through a sunlit area. Because of the over-reaching branches above and the slowly-setting sun, there were few of these spots.

Lolliette growled as she launched herself forward, trying to stop him. She panicked at the last moment while she was in the air. She could smell the humans, and she wasn't going to catch him in time!

The usually-black-haired vampire hissed in frustration as she landed in a summersault and was running again almost instantly. She was too late, however, as the newborn had grabbed one of the humans and taken off in the forest. She recognized the young woman as one of the group Talia had intended to feed off of and started grumbling profanities under her breath.

Finally, the newborn had to stop to sink his fangs into the woman, and Lolliette took this chance to restrain him. He was stronger than he looked though, and in the brief but dangerous struggle, the woman's neck broke with a resounding crack, and blood gushed out of the bite wound.

Lolliette was about to knock the man out when he froze, staring into the woman's face.

"Akiza… Oh gods no…" he whispered, bringing a couple of fingers to his lips. Lolliette released him, and he fell to his knees. She nodded to herself and ran over to the woman, now identified as Akiza.

Lolliette assessed the damage quickly. Akiza was barely conscious at this point, but the vampire wanted her to make the choice she had thought of.

"It's no use…" Akiza whispered. Lolliette shook her head.

"No… there is an option," she told the magenta-haired woman. Akiza looked confused, but then realization spread across her face, followed by determination.

"Do it," she decided. Lolliette raised an arm to her mouth and bit down before holding her bleeding wrist over Akiza's mouth. After a moment, once Akiza had fallen into the comatose-like state that vampires fell into turning the transformation and her wrist had healed, she bit into her palm and let the blood run down her fingers before rubbing it into Akiza's neck.

The vampire blood healed her bite wound quickly, and Lolliette heard the loud pop as the woman's spine reset and healed itself. Then she turned to the silver-haired man, who was staring down at the blood on his fingers, though whether in shock or revulsion, Lolliette couldn't tell.

Then a couple of unexpected arrivals appeared. First was a young woman with a crazed look in her eye; Lolliette could tell she was the other starved newborn. Yusei came after, subduing the woman with a simple and swift strike to the back of the neck that knocked her unconscious. Then he noticed the figure Lolliette was still hovering over.

"Akiza!" he cried, running forward to embrace the limp woman. Lolliette stepped back a ways to give him a little bit of privacy. After a moment, Yusei looked up at Lolliette.

"Why did you turn her?" he asked, no, _demanded_ of her. She looked over at the still-shocked newborn. Yusei turned around, and the already angry expression on his face became one of cold rage, a look that most would shy away from in a second. The man simply looked at him, a depressed, shocked, and apologetic look in his eye.

"Besides, I gave her the choice," Lolliette added, trying to take a bit of the enraged vampire's mind off of the bloodthirsty newborn nearby. Yusei sighed, the anger dissipating in a flash.

"This is why I told you that trying to deny what you are will only cause harm," the blue-eyed vampire told the other man. Lolliette looked at the unconscious newborn, the turning woman, and the still-thirsty man before sighing and raising her face to the sky to let out one long, clear howl.

Yusei growled under his breath for a moment before doing the same, and moments later, another howl rang out, followed by a flash of red sparks flying in the air.

"Seven down, one left," Lolliette muttered before approaching Yusei. He was already standing, Akiza in his arms, so she sighed and picked up the unconscious newborn. "Alright, we're leaving. That means you too," she said to the silver-haired newborn. He looked up and nodded, following them quietly back to the burnt castle, where most of the supernatural inhabitants of the valley were still waiting.

"Well, Rose won't be too happy," Yusei grumbled. Lolliette flinched.

"I don't imagine," she replied. "But we'll deal with that later. What's your name?" she asked the other newborn. He looked over at her in surprise; it was obvious he had been shaken out of his thoughts. Then he put a hand to his head, like he was trying to ward off a headache, and then he answered.

"Halldor."

* * *

**Kairi: Ha ha ha! Finally! I feel like I've been playing 'Where's Waldo?' for the last few chapters… except that it's been 'Where's Halldor?' So there! Halldor is a vampire, Akiza is turning, Yusei is pissed, Lolliette is… um… Well, Lolly is Lolly… (You'll understand in a few chapters what I mean by that…) Oh, and I made a cover! If you can't read the text, that's fine. They're a couple of quotes from later on in the story. (Much later on, because we haven't even gotten these guys back to Neo Domino yet…)**

**Lillith: Okay, that's enough. We'll see everyone… next Wednesday…?**

**Kairi: Um… -checks a rather colorful calendar- Yup. Next Wednesday, two days after school starts… Gods, I STILL can't get over the fact that they're NOT starting on a Wednesday this year!**

**Lillith: Whatever. Please leave a review on the way out. –drags Kairi off-**


	8. Chapter 7, Sated

**Kairi: -peeks out from behind U.S. History book- Um… Apologies for being a little late this week… I was super-busy yesterday morning and then was too tired to update last night. On another note, however… Saturday is coming up and I've got the next five chapters planned out in my head, so I should be able to type them all out quickly. Yay!**

**Lillith: Okay, Reviewer Responses?**

**Kairi: I was getting there! –throws the history book at Lillith- Here, read pages 55-59 for me. –turns back to readers and pulls out a piece of paper-**

**Marlene101writes- Trust me, dear, that was _nothing_. One of my friends is horrible about using profanity. Yup, yup, and lol. Dragan will be turned eventually… but obviously not into a vampire. (Because as I've said before, we have enough of those.) Anyways, I will definitely keep writing this. (You thought I forgot you? Marlene! How awful! I could never forget you.)**

**FiringShootingStar- Yup and yup. Anyways, um… -starts counting- Well, according to my list, there are only twelve humans (of the Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's cast) to turn, because I've already turned nine of them. (Although you don't know who four of those nine are yet. Though I did give you all a few hints on one of them.) Anyway, here's the next chapter.**

**Kairi: So… I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Go read!**

* * *

"_Well, Rose won't be too happy," Yusei grumbled. Lolliette flinched._

"_I don't imagine," she replied. "But we'll deal with that later. What's your name?" she asked the other newborn. He looked over at her in surprise; it was obvious he had been shaken out of his thoughts. Then he put a hand to his head, like he was trying to ward off a headache, and then he answered._

"_Halldor."_

* * *

**(One day later, in a hidden cavern beneath the mountains on the east side of the valley…)**

"Hey," Yusei whispered, sitting down next to Halldor, whose eyes were, once again, gold. Lolliette had pushed him to feed after the incident with Akiza, and he had complied happily once she told him that animal blood would suffice. He had spent the rest of the night and following day watching over Akiza while she turned.

He had yet to reveal himself to Broder or Dragan.

"Hey…" he muttered in response to Yusei. The raven-haired vampire was running his tongue over his fangs, an after-feeding habit he had picked up during his short time as a nomad. "She should be waking up soon, right?" he asked. Yusei nodded.

"Yeah. Her neck healed itself up right in the beginning. It won't take her long now… I'm going to go get some blood for her," he replied. Halldor nodded.

"I'll stay here," he said as Yusei stood and left. The young man had just left when a black-haired woman stepped in. Halldor looked up at her and frowned. She was most definitely a vampire, but neither her face nor her scent was familiar… though the latter was ringing a few very quiet bells.

Violet eyes scanned Akiza's body silently before falling upon Halldor again. "I have to confess, I don't know why some newborns try to deny their very nature," she said. The light, bell-like tone of her voice finally struck a truly familiar chord in the silver-haired man's memory, and he stared up at her in shock.

"Lolliette?" he asked. She nodded and sat on the edge of Akiza's bed.

"I smell funny… even to myself. But I suppose that happens when you've fed on human blood all hundred and some-odd years of your vampiric life, only to have to feed on animal blood after going three months without any blood at all…" she said. Halldor frowned.

"Three months… I'm surprised that sunlight wasn't burning you too," he said. Lolliette giggled.

"I've never had to worry about sunlight, except while I was turning. I have this ability to redirect light. If you pay attention, I never cast a shadow, because no light ever touches me," she explained. "And my little half-sister can create light."

"Half-sister?" Halldor asked.

"Belatrix… Mother fell in love with the man that turned me… he saved my life, apparently. She carried his child. Bela is half-vampire," she told him. Then she looked down at Akiza. "You can stop pretending to sleep now, Akiza," she added. Akiza opened her eyes and looked at Lolliette in shock.

"How…?" she wondered. Lolliette smiled.

"Your breathing quickened and your heartbeat slowed. Yusei's on his way with blood," she replied. Akiza sat up and looked around the room before her eyes fell on Halldor.

"Akiza, I'm so sorry," the silver-haired man apologized before she could speak. But she shook her head.

"No… From what I overheard, you hadn't fed since being turned. I made this choice, but… if I hadn't, I probably would have refused to drink blood as well," she told him. "How were you turned, anyway?" she added. Lolliette and Halldor frowned.

"I'm afraid I don't know," Halldor told her. Yusei walked in with a large glass and handed it to Akiza, who smiled gratefully and drank the blood without an argument.

"All I know is that I found him half-dead and turning out in the forest half and hour before dawn a couple months ago. I barely got him back to the castle in time," Yusei added. Lolliette sighed.

"I think I know how…" she said. Three pairs of eyes were locked onto her. "Talia ventured out on her own one day. When she returned, she smelled of blood… And Rosco nearly tore her head off for feeding and not sharing with us. It hadn't been the first time that month, and it wasn't the last."

"That's why Talia looked more human than you did when you attacked Crow and the others…" Yusei realized. Lolliette nodded.

"But Talia considered vampires to be immensely superior to humans, so more often than not, if she left her victims alive, she would turn them. I had thought that Halldor's scent was familiar… It's likely that Talia turned him," she finished. Then Akiza's head shot up, her eyes glued on the door.

Lolliette, Halldor, and Yusei all turned to look at Kalin at the same time. "Dragan and Jack found the middle ground. They're coming in here if you don't get out there and start explaining in the next five minutes. Which means they'll be here in two," the blue-haired man informed them. Yusei rolled his eyes, then noticed the empty glass in Akiza's hand and the hungry look in her eye.

"I wouldn't suggest it. It may smell wonderful, but his blood tastes nasty," he informed her. She shook her head as if trying to snap out of a trance. Kalin, however, just chuckled and left.

Halldor put his head in his hands. "I'm not sure I can do this…" he muttered. Yusei stood and offered a hand to him.

"I think you can. Even half-starved, you had more control than most newborns," he told Halldor. The silver-haired man took a deep breath and allowed Yusei to pull him to his feet. Then Yusei turned to Lolliette. "Would you take Akiza to get another glass of blood? I think she'll need it," he asked. The raven-haired girl nodded and took Akiza's hand to lead her away.

After wandering down a few tunnels, Yusei and Halldor arrived in a semi-large cavern. Enchanted blue flames, courtesy of a silver-blonde teenage female, were scattered about on the walls, lighting the area. Three couches formed a U around a coffee table, and large armchairs were scattered about.

Jack and Crow had claimed one couch, Broder and Dragan another. The third was occupied by Jean, Andre, and Breo. Kalin was leaning against a wall nearby while two unfamiliar men sat in a couple of armchairs. Judging by the taller one's brown hair and the shorter man's black, Yusei guessed that they must be Armand and Rosco.

And off to the side, curled up in an armchair that she could fit in three times over without being uncomfortable, was, to Yusei, a very familiar and welcome face. "Hello, Lillith," he greeted her. She looked up and smiled at him.

"Hello… Lolliette took Akiza to get more blood?" she guessed. Yusei nodded. "Alright… Rosalie went to check on Castle Silas, so we should be able to relocate everyone there within a week or so," she informed him.

"What the hell happened back in the forest?" Jack asked a few moments later, drawing everyone's attention. Halldor's fist clenched.

"Halldor reacted in a rather normal way upon waking after turning," Lillith began. "He refused to admit that he was a vampire and consequently denied himself blood. Two months later, his body began to react on its own, and the scent of human blood sent him into a frenzy."

"Lolliette and I were among the seven who left to capture the eight vampires that disappeared after the fire. Halldor wasn't the only newborn starving himself. But he caught scent of the group and managed to grab Akiza," Yusei continued.

"I caught up to him quickly and got him off of her, but her neck was broken in the process, and the bite wound was made worse. So I offered Akiza the option of being turned," Lolliette added, skipping into the room. Akiza had a large plastic cup with a lid and straw, like the really big ones that you can get for fountain drinks at a gas station.

"Obviously, I picked becoming a vampire," she said, throwing her two cents in before returning to sipping on the straw. Jack made a face, knowing that what was in that cup was most definitely not soda.

"You're not gonna go crazy on us now, are you?" Broder asked Halldor. He looked over at Akiza.

"The only who needs to be concerned right now is Akiza…" he grumbled. "She's got the freaking cup of blood." Lillith and Yusei laughed, and Kalin cracked a smile.

"Stealing is mean," Akiza muttered before returning her attention to her blood, but around the straw she was smiling.

* * *

**Kairi: So… Boringness. Um… next chapter is… Castle Silas! And typical Lara explosive confusion and Bela hyperness and… Hmmm? What's this? Lolliette kissing someone?**

**Lillith: Kairi…**

**Kairi: I know. (together with Lillith) Lolly is Lolly.**

**Lillith: Anyway, we will see you all on Tuesday, since she was supposed to update yesterday.**

**Kairi: In the meantime… -pulls out a college level Astronomy book and begins reading it for entertainment- Please don't forget to review…**


	9. Chapter 8, Settled

**Kairi: Hellos! Anyone notice the new cover? Heh heh... Later on there's going to be one slight difference to it. But that's many chapters away, so... here's chapter… um… Eight!**

**Lillith: I should not have let you have that Monster…**

**Kairi: Monsters are nummy! –bellyflops onto bed-**

**Lillith: Uh-huh… Anyway… She only owns OC's and other worlds that don't really exist.**

**Kairi: Read! –falls off of bed-**

**Lillith: Well done. –hands over chapter-**

* * *

"Whoa."

Yusei chuckled at the look on Crow's face. "It's a castle, what did you expect? A few dusty old rooms? Sheesh. The Shadow Guild takes care of its properties much better than you'd expect," he told the ginger. Then he looked down and groaned before stomping on something. Lifting his foot, he revealed the remains of what appeared to be…

"Pop-bots. Dammit, we haven't even settled in and she's already sending out her little havoc-wreaking minions," Lucian muttered, brushing his silver hair out of his face. A young woman with soft features and ash-blonde hair laughed.

"It's just her way of saying 'this is my home, I must leave my mark,'" she said. Lucian and Yusei rolled their eyes.

"Could she do it in a way that doesn't involve hours of clean-up?" Yusei wondered. The woman laughed again.

"We wish," she commented. "By the way, there's another one headed this way," she added, pointing at the small explosive in question. Yusei walked over to it and dispatched of it in the same he had destroyed the one earlier.

"Thanks for the warning, Esmé," he said. Esmé shrugged.

"Not a problem," she said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to locate Trudy." With that, the young woman walked off, leaving Yusei, Crow, and Lucian alone. The werewolf brushed his hair behind his ear, only for it to fall into his face again.

"I should go find the rest of the humans. This area looks nice, it'd probably be a good idea to put them here," he stated. Crow sighed.

"I feel like I should just remove the 'r' from my name, the way everyone keeps herding us around," he mumbled. Of course, both Yusei and Lucian heard it, as their hearing was much better than a humans.

"Trust me, once the crises are averted, the 'herding,' as you put it, will stop," Lucian told the ginger, chuckling all the way. Yusei rolled his eyes.

"Come on, Crow. Let's go see what we can do about opening all of these curtains. Let's let a little light in," he suggested. Lucian smiled and walked off, back to the entrance hall where most of the people were still waiting.

Devlin and Rosalie were organizing hunting groups among the thirstier vampires and larger, faster weres, while most of the blood-sated vampires explored Castle Silas and chose areas for each of the species. Lucian noted that the black- and violet-haired woman he had noticed after the fire was gone. She had smelled strange. Her scent carried a second, one identical to the tall blonde man's. Jack, did Yusei say his name was?

But scent-carrying in that way meant mates, and Yusei had said that Jack had a girlfriend named Carly. So why was that woman carrying his scent? It was impossible for two people to have the exact same scent, which meant that it could only be Jack's scent on her.

"Lucy!"

'_Oh… fucking… gods… NO…'_ Lucian thought as a small, blonde half-vampire latched onto him. He looked down at her from where she was practically dangling from his arm. "I did not just hear you call me Lucy," he growled. Bela stared at him for a moment before immediately detaching herself and running away.

"Lolly! Lucy's being mean to me!" she screamed. Lucian facepalmed.

"Is she always that hyper?" an Australian-accented voice asked. Lucian turned and nodded to Jack.

"Sadly, yes. It's a side-effect of being half-vampire. They need as much sleep as humans do, but they have so much freaking energy when they're awake… And they're not quite as breakable… and they like blood," he told the blonde. "Hey, you remember that woman from back at the old castle, don't you? The one with black and violet hair?" he asked a moment later.

Jack nodded. "Yes… She was actually creeping me out a little. I kept looking around, and every time I spotted her, she was staring at me," he confessed. Lucian crossed his arms.

"And you'd never met her before?" he inquired. Jack nodded slowly.

"Do I want to know what this is about?" he asked. Lucian sighed.

"The woman was scent-carrying, something that generally only happens with full-blooded siblings or mates. And she didn't look anything like you, so I highly doubt it was the first… but from what Yusei told me, the second would be rather doubtful as well," he explained. Jack glared at him.

"I'd never talked to her before she walked over and spoke to us before we left the castle. The second one is impossible," he told the silver-haired were. Lucian chuckled.

"Well, she's gone now. What did she tell you guys anyway?" he replied. Jack looked thoughtful.

"Well, all she really told us about herself was that she was a Watcher… Kalin apparently has heard about them before, and he said that they were the guardians of world balance and that they're moved from world to world as necessary," he told his companion. "Other than that… all she really told us about was that there were different worlds and that all kinds of supernatural creatures come here after there homeworlds are destroyed."

Lucian crossed his arms. "Hmm… I've never heard of the Watchers… I'll have to talk to the other Nighthawks. They might know about them," he muttered. Then he took a step back. "All humans over here unless mated to a non-human!" he yelled over the crowd. Slowly, the three dozen or so humans meandered over to Lucian, though about ten broke off to rejoin the supernatural group.

Lucian led the group up to the area he, Yusei, and Crow had decided on for the humans. Unlike when Lucian had left the area, the drapes were open, and sunlight poured through. A few pop-bots slowed the group's progress along the way, but finally, all of the humans had chosen rooms. Lucian was leading Jack and Kalin to where Yusei and Crow were when he noticed the third scent.

"What's Lolly doing up here?" he wondered out loud. The other two shrugged as they walked along. They were nearing the edge of the hallway when Lucian finally opened a door.

The three of them froze in shock at the sight that greeted them.

Standing in the light filtering through the now-open curtains were two of the three people they were looking for…

…and Lolliette was kissing Yusei.

* * *

**Kairi: Ahem… I have calmed down now. So, this marks the beginning of the end for the little bit of Akiza x Yusei that was in this story. It's also got a bit of foreshadowing, if you can catch that… Let's see, what else was here…? Oh, Bela. Bela will show up a lot more in later chapters, not so much in these earlier ones.**

**Bela: What the heck, Kairi? Rialle is my twin, Annabeth and Jacob are my younger siblings, and you, Kiara, Kitsii, and the others are my older siblings… Where did Lolliette come from? !**

**Kairi: Lolliette is Hellen's first name.**

**Bela: -_- I hate you. –leaves-**

**Kairi: Well, now that that is resolved… (Sorry, I roleplay with one of my friends and that is where Bela and Kiara came from originally… it's actually where a lot of these characters came from…)**

**Lillith: Reviewer responses?**

**Kairi: Oh gods yes! Reviewer Responses!**

**Marlene101writes- …Yep, that sounds like what my friend's sentences sound like. (the profanity) Anyway, yeah. Lolliette didn't want her to run out too quickly and decide to bite a human. Oh, I will. (And yes, I started on Monday… What the hell is wrong with my school? ! We ALWAYS start on a WEDNESDAY! Wednesday, I tell you! And yet you made us come to school on MONDAY! …Sorry, had to rant. That still bugs me. My school has started on Wednesday since before my mom can remember…)**

**FiringShootingStar- Lol, yeah, that'll actually be explained a little later on. Um, was that supposed to be twins? And yes, they'll be drawn in… once I figure out what to turn them into.**

**ForeverWildfire2.0- Um, if you're referring to the blood bond between a newborn vampire and the vampire who turned him/her, there will be none of those here. The only 'blood bonds' between vampires will be between mates, which is something that will be explained later… probably the chapter after we explain Akiza's slight personality change, or thereabouts.**

**Kairi: So… We have to leave. Review! -drops something behind her and you pick it up to read it-**

_**Next chapter - Akiza confronts Yusei about Lolliette, and Halldor is... um... Andre, what the heck is Halldor doing?**_


	10. Chapter 9, Bonds

**Kairi: Sorry for being a little late, my laptop was acting up, and I ended up writing this chapter… what was it? Five times?**

**Lillith: Four, but who cares.**

**Kairi: So, a little story. (You can skip this if you really want to...) I am musically inclined (in other words, I am naturally talented at pretty much anything musical) and I like to play guitar, though it's one of the instruments I actually have to work at more. Anyway, I hadn't picked my guitar up since… Oh, some time in June? So I picked it up the other night and started playing 'A Soalin' by Peter, Paul, and Mary (which is a very easy song once you learn the main lick and the end lick, because the main lick just repeats over and over again). Then, about an hour in and still having absolutely no luck at singing and playing at the same time without messing up, I said 'to heck with this shit' and grabbed my mom's Alabama Live CD and the book for it and started to work out the chords… and that stupid little F# chord kept screwing me over (until my dad gave me a little cheat-hint). So anyway, I started playing that… And then I decided that it was time to go to bed. Then the next morning I played that guitar for three hours straight and came out of it saying 'oh my gods my fingers hurt.' Well, that's what I get for not playing for two and a half months.**

**Lillith: Are you done yet?**

**Kairi: No, just one more thing… I was practicing in the living room with my dad when I quit the other morning, and I was carrying my guitar back to my room, and my dog stands up and starts barking at it. I told him 'I'd hit you upside the head with this guitar if I didn't love it so freaking much, because as hard-headed as you are, you'd probably break it without even trying.' My mom heard me from her office and cracked up laughing. And yes, the dog in question really is that stupid. Sweet as hell, but he's so freaking stupid.**

**Lillith: Are you done YET?**

**Kairi: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Reviewer Responses at the bottom. Enjoy.**

* * *

"_What's Lolly doing up here?" he wondered out loud. The other two shrugged as they walked along. They were nearing the edge of the hallway when Lucian finally opened a door._

_The three of them froze in shock at the sight that greeted them._

_Standing in the light filtering through the now-open curtains were two of the three people they were looking for…_

…_and Lolliette was kissing Yusei._

* * *

Lucian cleared his throat, and Yusei and Lolliette were on opposite sides of the room immediately. Yusei opened his mouth, likely to try to explain, but Lucian stopped him. "Don't," the silver-haired man said. "Go find Akiza," he ordered Yusei. The black-haired man nodded and disappeared, or rather, started running. Lolliette shifted uncomfortably.

"What the hell was just going on in here?" Jack demanded. Crow came walking down the hall and raised an eyebrow.

"Huh? What did I miss?" he wondered. Jack glared at him.

"Lolliette was just kissing Yusei," he answered. Lucian stepped into the room and motioned for the others to follow. Kalin stepped in quietly, pulling Jack and Crow behind him.

Lucian sighed and looked at Lolliette, who mirrored the action. "Almost all creatures of the Supernatural… oh, what's an easy way to put it?" she started. Lucian rolled his eyes.

"Bond? Or to put it in Stephanie Meyer's terms, imprint?" he supplied. Lolliette shot him a look.

"I was thinking mature," she grumbled. Lucian shrugged. "Anyway, since Yusei and I are vampires, I guess I'll just use vampires as an example. Anywhere between a month and a decade after 'birth', a vampire will 'mature.' They'll lose their status as a newborn and gain some kind of an ability," she explained.

"More often than not, this ability is something tiny, like running faster than average or better eyesight, though in some cases, such as Lolliette's, that ability is more pronounced and is what most people would think of as a special ability," Lucian continued for her.

"But as we were saying earlier, most Supernatural creatures 'bond' or 'imprint' as well," Lolliette said. Kalin held up a hand.

"Wait, you mean once you see your mate, that's it?" he asked. Lolliette sighed.

"Someone's read Twilight…" she muttered. "Sort of… It is similar to the wolves in Twilight, in that you become bonded to your mate, but it's not nearly as strong. It's just that newborns can't bond… which is why Yusei and I just now found out about…"

"We usually stop referring to vampires as 'newborns' after they've hit the one-year mark, but really, they don't pass that marker until after their bodies decide to, as Devlin puts it, 'flip on the Supernatural switch'," Lucian added. "So, on a totally different note, since I sense the need for a subject change, who's hungry?"

* * *

_Four months later…_

Standing around in a room in the 'human wing' of Castle Silas were sixteen people. Yusei, Akiza, and Lolliette were talking about something in one corner, while everyone else sat around on the couches and chairs in the middle, with the exceptions of the three weres, who were lying around on the ground in wolf form due to the full moon having risen the night before, and Halldor, who stood by the window, looking through the curtains with an almost-worried expression on his face.

"I still can't believe you actually brought them out here," Kalin said to Misty. Next to her, Luna was explaining something to Leo. Misty shrugged.

"I would've brought Carly too, but she disappeared a few weeks ago. We figured she'd already come," she replied. Jack shook his head.

"No sign of her… Or Miss Creepy either," he said. Misty raised an eyebrow.

"Miss Creepy?"

Lucian, Crow, and Jean chuckled, though for Lucian it sounded more like a shaky bark. She showed up, did a lot of staring at Jack, and then disappeared, the silver-haired were explained. Then, his ear perked up and he turned his head to the window.

"Halldor?" Broder asked. The silver-haired man had the curtain pushed aside, something that had become a rare occurrence for him, even after feeding, as his memories of being able to burn were still rooted in his mind.

Then Lucian's head turned the other direction, and before any of the humans could have said 'uh-oh' he was on his feet and howling as he ran out. The other two werewolves and three of the vampires followed him quickly.

"Shit! We're already under attack?" Lolliette cried out in shock. She turned to the trio. "Stay up here!" she yelled before running after the others. Kalin sighed.

"Yes, because that's going to abate our curiosity," he muttered. Crow was already headed out the door, with Jack on his heels. Kalin rolled his eyes, choosing to follow the two of them rather than let them get into too much trouble. Unfortunately, the others followed him out as well.

After a short while, Kalin and Crow looked around to find that the others were gone, and it was likely that they had gone down different halls. They didn't make it much farther before they found Devlin and a dark-brown-haired woman fighting two large wolves. Devlin had large, black wings on his back as he set about casting spell after spell, trying to kill the attacking werewolves.

Devlin let off another spell as a third wolf attacked him from behind, nearly tearing one of his wings from his body as it tried to reach his neck. "Trudy! Hold them off for a second!" he cried to the woman, who nodded before holding up a stone, which glowed for a moment before she seemingly disappeared, only to kick the wolf on Devlin's back away from him.

The humans were trapped in the hall as they watched a glowing circle appear around Devlin as he prepared another spell. As the dark-haired man finished chanting under his breath, lighting filled the air, striking down the werewolves and killing them, but not before one could get around Trudy and clamp its teeth around Devlin's neck.

"Devlin!" three worried cries rang out. Trudy, who was closest, ran over to him first, pulling out another stone and holding it out, obviously trying to use its power to heal.

"No… no, no, no, no, no…" Trudy started chanting after a moment, when Devlin's breathing became less and less pronounced. She clenched her fist for a moment before placing her hands over Devlin's chest and closing her eyes. "I won't lose you, dammit…"

Crow and Kalin watched as an ethereal light surrounded Trudy, then flowed through her into Devlin, not only healing all of his wounds, but hers as well. As the light faded, she tried to stand, but collapsed, likely from exhaustion. Kalin caught her and shot Crow a look, and they carried the duo to a room nearby.

They were about to leave when Devlin's voice stopped them.

"Kalin, Crow, wait…" Crow stopped and looked back at Devlin, who was sitting up in the bed as if he had never been attacked. "Trudy… She started glowing gold when she started healing me, didn't she?" he asked. Crow nodded and walked back over.

"Yeah… and then the glow just kind of…" he started.

"Flowed into me?" Devlin finished. "I know. She's human again," he added sadly. Crow looked down at the woman.

"Again?" he wondered. Devlin nodded.

"Trudy was born a human, but, around the time she turned twenty, she was in an almost-fatal accident. I pulled her out of the car before the fire started, but there wasn't much I could do to heal her. Fallen Angels don't specialize in healing, after all," he told the duo bitterly. "But… there was one thing I could do… Trudy deserved another chance at life, and by then, I was starting to give up hope that I would ever find my soul mate…"

"You gave her Immortality, didn't you?" Kalin asked from next to the doorway. Devlin narrowed his eyes at him for a moment.

"Ah… I see now. You're quite talented at covering it up, Kalin," he said. Kalin looked uncomfortable. "But then, most Aegyl are." Crow looked between Kalin and Devlin for a moment.

"Aegyl?" he asked, directing the question to Kalin, though Devlin was the one to answer.

"A half-angel, half-human, with all of the abilities of an Angel except one," the black-haired man stated. Kalin sighed.

"Gifting… One of the few abilities the Fallen Angels retained, even if its power was more limited than what the Angels could do," he muttered. Crow continued to look between Kalin and Devlin.

"And speaking of which… I've already Given Trudy Immortality once, I can't do it again, not for her or anyone else. So I'm going with the second option I have left to me at the moment," Devlin explained, turning to Crow. Kalin looked at him for a moment, then looked over at Crow and balked.

"You can't be serious!" he cried in surprise. Devlin redirected his emerald gaze to Kalin for a moment, at the blue-haired man recovered his calm. "At least ask him first," he conceded. Crow tilted his head to the side.

"Okay, I'm totally confused now," he informed them. Devlin sighed.

"The ability to Gift allows an Angel to do one of three things. First, they can Give a human Immortality. Angels can do this multiple times, depending on their class, but Fallen Angels can only do this once. Second, they can cleanse a Fallen Angel's wings. I've never heard of any class of Angel aside from priests doing this before, though," he explained.

"Probably because it's forbidden for any other class of Angel to do so. My mother liked breaking the rules though… and I know she managed to cleanse a Fallen Angel at least once, despite being a warrior class," Kalin added. Devlin sighed.

"Which brings us to the third and final Gift. Should an Angel decide, for whatever reason, that they wish to become human, and they are absolutely certain that they are willing to give up their abilities and wings to do so, then they can pass they wings onto another person, of any species other than the Angels, and that person will become an Angel in their stead," Devlin explained.

Crow stared at him for a minute. "Wait, you don't mean…" he trailed off. Devlin nodded.

"Fallen Angels can only grant Immortality once. I don't want to just sit back and watch Trudy grow old… It was bad enough having to watch all of my friends age and die," he told the ginger. "And I'm sure Yusei, Akiza, and Kalin will feel the same way. After all, vampires are immortal, in nearly the same sense as an Immortal is, and as an Aegyl, Kalin still has quite life ahead of him as well."

Crow's eyes found their way to the floor as Kalin walked over. "Trudy won't just suddenly grow old in the next few days, so Crow, take some time to think about it. In the meantime, I'm going to go check on the others," he said. "Oh… And don't tell anyone else what I am. I've been hiding out as a human since I was six. I don't need the High Council coming down on my ass for the shit my mother put them through."

Devlin chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't say a word," he promised. Crow nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly.

* * *

**Kairi: Yep, there you have it. Trudy is human. Devlin has offered to give up his wings to Crow. Vampires have special abilities. Can anyone guess what Lillith's is?**

**Lillith: Pft, of course not. You haven't given them any hints at all.**

**Kairi: Shut up, you. Well, try guessing anyway… Oh, and there's going to be another big time-skip in about… oh, three or four chapters. Just thought I'd warn everyone. (Four months is a small time-skip, two years is a bit closer to a big skip.) So then, Reviewer Responses!**

**Marlene101writes- Thanks! Well, my school always starts on a Wednesday, so it was just strange… That's alright, I'm happy to get your review anyway!**

**FiringShootingStar- Is Jack related to Kiara? Well… that's still a few chapters away, after the big time skip. Sorry. And yes, obviously the twins are in this. (I guessed them to be about twelve during the events of the Fortune Cup, and the first scene (Yusei falling of the cliff) was about a year after the end, so they'd have been about fourteen at the time, and there was a two-year skip between Yusei leaving and Halldor disappearing, so they're sixteen now.) And anyway, the next chapter will be up… Sunday, because I was supposed to update yesterday.**

**Kairi: So, anyone else confused about ages now? Well, that's something I should probably work out for everyone, seeing as how some of them are still human. But, on another note, I'll see everyone on Sunday! (Unless my laptop starts acting up again…) Please don't forget to review!**


	11. Chapter 10, Connection

**Kairi: Here's a little poem to explain why I didn't update this half an hour ago…**

_**Little Miss Kairi sat on her bed, happily typing away  
**__**Along came a spider, who dropped down by her laptop, and scared Miss Kairi away**_

**Lillith: -snickering-**

**Kairi: Laugh it up, but I am deathly afraid of spiders… Especially when I'm sitting in the dark and I only see it because of the light coming off of the laptop's screen…**

**Lillith: -still laughing-**

**Kairi: -sighs- Oh well. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's, because if I did, it would have lasted much longer… and a random girl in the crowd would have pointed at Lazar and yelled 'Periwinkle-Head' for everyone to hear. (Group joke.)**

**Lillith: I'm not sure I want to know…**

**Kairi: You don't. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Exactly one week after the werewolves had attacked the castle, Crow made up his mind. He didn't even have to say anything when he stepped into Devlin's room that day. The black-haired man just smiled and told Trudy that he'd be back later, and that she should finish packing soon. She gave him a strange look, but shrugged it off and headed into a different part of the room as Devlin waved Crow over to the balcony, a strange, dark green light announcing the unfurling of his wings.

"Come on. We're gonna need a little different setting," he said as the orange-haired human walked over. "Don't worry, I won't drop you," Devlin added. Crow gave him a look, but held onto Devlin as the black-haired man got up onto the balcony and jumped, spreading his wings wide and letting the air catch them.

The two men were flying towards the mountain range behind Castle Silas when Devlin spoke up again. "You're sure about this?" he asked Crow. The orange-haired man nodded.

"Yeah. I thought it over a lot," he replied. Devlin smiled and nodded.

"Alright… Thanks," he said. "Oh, and you'll be seeing a lot of me for the next few weeks, unless you want to try to figure out magic on your own," he added playfully. Crow laughed.

"That's fine," he informed the black-haired man. Devlin grinned and angled down for the ground as the two prepared themselves.

Meanwhile, back at the castle, Kalin, Jack, Yusei, and Akiza were trying to corner a certain someone… With Jack having much less success than the other three, mostly due to the fact that every time he turned around, he felt like he was being watched.

And then Lucian showed up. "Hey… that's that girl's scent. You trying to find her?" the silver-haired man asked. Jack scowled, but nodded, and Lucian sighed and shifted into a wolf, then set off, Jack on his heels.

A few hours later and after inquiring with an extremely gifted psychic named Sora, who was, at that time, masquerading as a lazy kitten, the five of them concluded that the mysterious woman was no longer on the grounds. Jack sighed in frustration, but then Leo and Luna ran over with a paper.

"Huh? What's that, guys?" Yusei asked, being the first to notice the paper. Luna handed it to him.

"People all over Neo Domino City and Satellite are going missing! Martha sent that after Rally and Blister both disappeared," her brother explained. Lucian was about to say something when he noticed someone standing nearby.

Had it not been for the golden hair streaked with copper, he would have believed her to be the woman they were searching for. And certainly, her scent was similar, but she wasn't scent-carrying, and she definitely wasn't staring at Jack. Her eyes were locked on the letter in Yusei's hands, that, if she were a vampire, she would be more than capable of reading from that distance.

Except, she wasn't a vampire. Not by her scent, at least. Lucian wasn't quite sure just what she was, as he'd never smelled this particular scent before. And then, before he could bring her presence to the attention of the others, she vanished.

Lucian let out a surprised cry, catching the attention of the others.

"What's wrong?" Akiza asked. Lucian blinked a few times.

"Well, nothing, it's just… where could she have gone?" he wondered, still staring at the area where the woman had been. Yusei crossed his arms.

"She?" he asked. Lucian shook his head to clear it and turned back to the group.

"Yeah. There was a woman over there staring at the paper Yusei's got. If she'd been a vampire or demon, I could understand why, almost, but her scent was really strange. And she looked almost identical to the woman from before, but her hair was gold and copper instead of black and purple," he explained. "Strangest part is… the moment I made up my mind to go over there and start questioning her, she disappeared."

Yusei gave him a strange look. "Just disappeared?" he repeated. Lucian frowned.

"Well… not exactly 'just disappeared'… More like vanished and left a little dust behind in her place," he replied, thinking back to the woman disappearing. Sure enough, his memory had revealed that as she disappeared, an almost golden dust took her place, too fine to be noticed immediately.

That had Yusei even more confused than before. And then Jack did an extremely quick roll-call, for reasons he didn't feel like explaining to anyone else. "Hey, where's Kalin? I thought he was here just a minute ago," he wondered.

Kalin was, at that moment, sitting in a tree quite a ways away, having no more use for the illusion he'd had running about the castle to keep people from wondering where he was, then following his scent trail and finding him. After all, unless the wolves could fly, they wouldn't be able to track his scent now.

"Yusei's heading back to Neo Domino tomorrow with Akiza, Halldor, Andre, and Broder. They're planning on leaving Jack and the others here," a woman's voice informed him. Kalin looked down and raised an eyebrow.

"Knowing Jack, that won't do any good," he stated. The blonde smiled.

"You're right, it won't," she stated. Then her expression became more serious. "And… We're going to need your help. Kiara's gotten herself captured by one of our enemies. Aegyl are renowned liars, unlike Fae or Angels. I hate asking favors of you like this…"

Kalin sighed. "It's the least I can do for you for taking care of my family, especially after…" he trailed off. The woman's frown deepened.

"The High Council got her, Kalin. She's gone. Barring any extreme cases of idiocy on Danté's part, though, the rest of you should still be fine," she told him. Kalin sighed.

"Right, because the High Council really believes that all… how many of us are sane?" he grumbled. The woman chuckled.

"Well, let's do a quick headcount. You and Odin are the eldest, followed by Reighn, then Valkyria, then Matthias, and Aerith is the baby of the family. So… six, not counting Danté," she said. Kalin sighed and pulled a locket out of his coat. On the inside, there were two pictures. One was of a blue-haired woman and a white-haired man holding two identical boys. Kalin was in his mother's arms, his twin brother Odin in his father's. On the other side was a picture of all eight family members, with eight-month-old Aerith in his nine-year-old arms.

He closed the locket and looked up at the sky. "I need to go visit them again," he muttered. The woman crossed her arms and leaned against a nearby tree.

"Reighn and Aerith are on Auldrant right now. Valkyria and Matthias are with Danté on Archadia. I'm not sure where Odin is, but he can take care of himself," she stated. Kalin chuckled.

"And here I used to think I was the responsible twin. After becoming a Dark Signer, I think I proved that I was wrong," he said. The woman raised an eyebrow.

"It's possible for someone born in a different world to become a Dark Signer?" she asked, surprised. Kalin sighed.

"Apparently. Although most of my memories of my childhood were missing when I became one… That might have been the reason," he said quietly. The woman nodded, but didn't speak. "So… any idea where Kiara is?"

"Why, Kalin! You ought to be able to put two and two together," the woman admonished him teasingly. Kalin laughed.

"Let me guess. She went missing in Neo Domino as well," he said. The woman frowned and nodded.

"Yeah. Last I heard from her, she was trying to find Carly and get him to where Jack was. I think she was trying to put her own fears to rest," she said softly. Kalin frowned.

"Why was Kiara here anyway? I'm lucky Odin's hair ended up growing out darker and I lost the damn accent, or she would have recognized me," he said. "She recognized the description of him, that's for sure."

The woman crossed her arms. "I needed another Watcher familiar with the area. Kiara's dimension might be a few years ahead of this one, but it's relatively the same, so she was the obvious choice," she replied. "Kalin…"

"Don't worry," he told her. "I'll find your sister."

* * *

**Kairi: So, Reighn and Aerith belong to my friend and beta Tony. Valkyria, Matthias, Danté Nelenor-Kessler, and Odin belong to me. Ravine Antares-Kessler (Kalin's mom) belongs to my friend Winx. And Kalin belongs to whoever owns Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's. So yeah, talk about a dysfunctional family. (Reighn and Aerith won't show up in this story due to being in 'A Spatial Tear', but I'm going to try to have the other four living members of his family pop in once or twice.)**

**Lillith: So…**

**Kairi: Reviewer Responses… or rather, Reviewer Response… Really, only one review? –sighs-**

**FiriningShootingStar- Yup. Well, this chapter was pretty much a filler… but next chapter has a few things happen… Including a guest appearance by our main antagonist. (Not that you'll be able to figure out which of the four or five characters it is. 'Cause I'm sneaky like that…)**

**Lillith: Please, please leave a review.**

**Kairi: And then we will see all of you this Saturday.**


	12. Chapter 11, Revelations Part 1

**Kairi: Okay, so… My 'A Spatial Tear' readers are going to want to kill me, but guess what? I don't especially care. They need to review more and keep me motivated.**

**Lillith: On another note…**

**Kairi: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's. If I'm still saying that by the time I hit chapter twenty, I will be surprised. Everything else is down at the bottom. Oh, and there's a new poll up on my profile for this story. (Info at the bottom.)**

* * *

A silver-haired teen dressed in blue, white, and gold sighed and leaned back against the railing of the balcony that said teen was currently occupying. The teen was uninterested in the buildings nearby. The patch of shadows in the far corner held more interest. "Humph. I figured you'd show, Corylle," the teen muttered, their voice doing little to identify their gender.

A silver-blue mist separated itself from the shadows, finally taking shape. The figure that emerged was a thin teenager dressed in the same colors as the other occupant of the balcony. The second teenager, however, was most definitely female, and had reddish-pink hair and dark, brooding gray eyes.

"You know, I don't think Kotare will be too happy with your choice to interfere," Corylle stated. The silver-haired teen scoffed, but another cloud of silver-blue mist gathered and dissipated, leaving behind a third figure, who also donned blue, white, and gold.

"Kotare _isn't_ happy… She won't allow us to interfere, but she does want us to observe," the teen said, his voice marking his gender. Corylle turned to their companion expectantly.

"Do you think you can handle that, Angel?" she asked. The silver-haired teen crossed their arms.

"Fine," Angel grumbled. Corylle looked a little put off at this, but their companion laughed.

"Corylle, this is Angel we're talking about. You know how he gets," he stated. Corylle looked the silver-haired teen over.

"Sometimes, I honestly have to wonder if he actually is a boy," she said quietly, hoping Angel wouldn't hear. Unfortunately for her, he did, and as his blood-red gaze settled on her, she had to suppress the urge to shudder.

"So, Phoebus? Why are you here anyway?" Corylle asked the tallest of the trio. Phoebus rolled his eyes before brushing a stray strand of straw-colored hair away.

"I'm supposed to be babysitting Angel. You sticking around to watch with us?" he replied. Corylle sighed.

"Sure, whatever. I'm rather bored though," she grumbled, tossing her curls over her shoulder again. Angel sighed.

"So go back to Aberunn," he grumbled. "At least there's something to do there. You know, like kill a few monsters? Leave me alone?" Corylle crossed her arms.

"You want to try that again, Feathers?" she hissed. Angel shot her a bored look.

"Don't you think that's biting off a bit more that you can chew, Pink?" he countered. Phoebus brought a hand to his forehead and massaged a temple.

"Keep it up you two. I'll drag you both back to Kotare and you can explain to her why we're there rather than out here observing," he threatened the arguing teens. Corylle sighed.

"But there's nothing to do…" she muttered. Angel rolled his eyes and reached out toward his companions, grabbing Corylle's arm in one hand and Phoebus's in the other before the silver-blue mist surrounded the three of them.

They reappeared in a forest clearing, and Angel leapt back away from the duo. "You said you were bored, Corylle? Why don't we do it this way, then," Angel said, silver-red mist heralding the arrival of a long-sword and a dagger. "Last one standing wins. If I win, you two leave me be and I get to interfere."

Corylle smirked, a silver-black mist appearing to yield a pair of claw gauntlets. "Alright. If I win, I get to come with you. If you want to interfere, I won't stop you," she informed him. Phoebus sighed, and a summoned a large claymore with his own silver-gold mist, settling into a defensive stance and fixing both teens with a hard look.

"Apparently I have to get involved in this as well," he muttered. "I win, and neither of you is going anywhere without my knowledge or is interfering, understood?"

* * *

Yusei sighed and massaged a spot on his forehead. Halldor, Andre, Breo, Akiza, and Lolliette were doing similar things. None of them, however, was very surprised.

The six of them had been in Neo Domino City for exactly two days. After the second day of recon, they had returned to the house Crow, Jack, and Kalin had recently moved into, only to find that they weren't alone anymore.

Jack, Misty, Leo, Luna, Dragan, Broder, and Jean were sitting around the living room. Yusei groaned.

"Where are Crow and Kalin?" he asked, knowing that they wouldn't have wanted to stay behind either. Jack's reply confused him, however.

"Crow wanted to stay at Castle Silas," the blonde informed him. "But none of us has seen Kalin since you received that letter." Halldor crossed his arms.

"Which means that he likely left before we did," he said. Lolliette frowned.

"But didn't you guys say that Kalin wasn't with you when Yusei got the letter?" she asked. The thirteen of them were silent and thoughtful for a long moment. The silence was broken when, suddenly and unexplainably, all of them were clutching their heads, trying to ward off the sudden headache that was assaulting them.

Through the pain, each of them heard just one word.

_Help._

"Kalin!" Yusei cried out, recognizing the voice immediately. A picture of an abandoned theater in Satellite reached them, and the six non-humans immediately reacted before the pain of the headache faded away completely. Jack, Dragan, Broder, and Jean followed them on their duel runners, Leo and Luna on their duel boards.

They reached the theater to find Kalin and a familiar, dark-haired woman fighting their way away from seven vampires and three demons… somehow miraculously surviving from what would be considered fatal blows to humans.

Yusei, Halldor, Akiza, Lolliette, Andre, and Breo immediately jumped into the fight, nearly evening the entire battle up. But even so, the demons were stronger than them, and the eight of them were quickly losing ground.

"Oh, bloody hell! I didn't want to do this!" Kalin yelled, the slightest bit of a British accent in his words. A silvery light sprouted from his back, forming metal-gray wings which he flapped twice quickly to bring himself into the air. From there, he started chanting quietly, but before he could finish, a dark blur knocked him out of the air.

Kalin and his assailant landed sloppily a few yards away from the rest of the fighting, and Kalin recoiled upon seeing the other's face. From a ways away, Jack was frozen in shock as well. The demon woman lunged, but was knocked away as a small, golden dust cloud heralded the teleporting of Kiara, who knew that neither Kalin nor Jack was prepared to actually _fight_ the black-haired woman.

Jack had gotten off his duel runner and run forward, only to be held back by Kalin. He managed to choke out the woman's name.

His shock turned to horror as Carly turned and fixed him in her crimson gaze.

* * *

**Kairi: So… If the first part of the chapter confused you… that's kinda good. Also, there is a poll up on my profile that will stay up until… whenever I finish writing out the other two endings. I need you guys to vote on which of the three Spirit Seekers (the characters in the first part) will 'win' the 'fight'. Angel, Corylle, or Phoebus? Depending on which character 'wins', I will use the story line that fits.**

**Lillith: It's true that she didn't give you guys a lot of information, but she was trying to keep as much information about them secret for now as she could…**

**Kairi: It was difficult…**

**Lillith: On another note…**

**Kairi: So, this story got really heated up in… half a chapter. Carly's a demon. Kiara has been found/rescued. Kalin's secret isn't so secret anymore… Did I miss anything?**

**Lillith: Not that I can think of. So, what's next?**

**Kairi: Reviewer Responses!**

**FiringShootingStar- lol… I have a list at the bottom of this story in Microsoft Word for all of the major/canon characters… Kalin's family is minor right now, but they pop up in more than one of my stories, so I'm not too concerned about keeping _them_ straight. Thanks. And a better description of Kalin's past? …Hmm… I'll see what I can do about that. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**(Sabrina)- You know, you have the same name as a character that will pop up in this story… eventually… Anyway, thanks for reviewing!**

**Lillith: So, don't be like the readers of 'A Spatial Tear.' Review! Keep Kairi motivated so she doesn't let her laptop sit there for a week without being touched.**

**Kairi: And don't forget to vote, either! I will see everyone on… the twenty-first… Ooh, homecoming!**

**Lillith: Are you thinking about doing what I think you're going to do?**

**Kairi: -whispers something to Lillith-**

**Lillith: -nods- Yup, thought so. –turns to readers- You all have something else to look forward to next week as well.**

**Kairi: So, to recap, since we got a little off-topic… review, vote, and look for something special next Friday! See you soon! Oh, Halldor! Don't forget the thingy! You forgot last chapter!**

**Halldor: -sighs-**

_**Next Chapter: Revelations, Part 2**_

_**Carly's a demon? Kalin's an Angel? And why does Kiara keep looking at Jack like that? ...And on another note, where the hell is Crow?**_


	13. Chapter 12, Revelations Part 2

**Kairi: So, interesting story... I have a bunch of updates in my Updates folder and they're all labled by story title and chapter number. This chapter, despite being chapter 12, was labled chapter 13. Then, when I went to upload it to FanFiction, I accidentally labled it Chaper 13 again... Then I got pissed off and deleted it, then re-uploaded it.**

**Lillith: Fascinating. Next?**

**Kairi: So, for anyone interested in seeing me all dressed up for 'Blast from the Past Day' during Red Ribbon Week, there is a picture link in my profile that goes to a picture of yours truly (the face is cut off, which I did on purpose). Anyway, it's me in my mom's old 1800s dress… (meaning the style is 1800s, not that the dress is actually FROM the 1800s.) It doesn't fit as well as it should, but alas, my mother is much larger around than I am.**

**Lillith: Either way, it's very accurate, and you did look very nice in it.**

**Kairi: Thank you!**

**Lillith: On another note…**

**Kairi: Ah, yes. Well, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! (Although OC's belong to me… and there are a LOT!) So.. go enjoy the chapter. I'll put the responses and such at the bottom.**

* * *

"_Oh, bloody hell! I didn't want to do this!" Kalin yelled, the slightest bit of a British accent in his words. A silvery light sprouted from his back, forming metal-gray wings which he flapped twice quickly to bring himself into the air. From there, he started chanting quietly, but before he could finish, a dark blur knocked him out of the air._

_Kalin and his assailant landed sloppily a few yards away from the rest of the fighting, and Kalin recoiled upon seeing the other's face. From a ways away, Jack was frozen in shock as well. The demon woman lunged, but was knocked away as a small, golden dust cloud heralded the teleporting of Kiara, who knew that neither Kalin nor Jack was prepared to actually fight the black-haired woman._

_Jack had gotten off his duel runner and run forward, only to be held back by Kalin. He managed to choke out the woman's name._

_His shock turned to horror as Carly turned and fixed him in her crimson gaze._

* * *

"Well, damn," Kiara muttered. "Guess there's no time like the present then." And with that, she held her left hand out in front of her. A silver and gold light appeared and formed into an elongated shape, which quickly became a silver scythe with a dark violet blade. As everyone was frozen in place, Kiara rushed toward Carly with the weapon.

The demonic woman hissed at her and leapt out of the way, only to be hit on the head by the butt of the staff as Kiara swung it back around.

The other two demons grabbed their fallen companion and started running, and the vampires followed after them. Kiara sighed, before Jack had her by the throat.

"Are you insane? You could have killed her!"

"That was the point," Kiara stated calmly, her green eyes flashing the same shade of violet as the streaks in her hair… and Jack's eyes. Kalin turned to Kiara quietly.

"I thought you said you wouldn't interfere," he said. The woman closed her eyes as her breath hitched, and everyone watched in shock as a single tear slipped down her cheek.

"They're both here, Kalin. If we don't get rid of one, it'll cause a spatial paradox, and you know as well as I do what happened the last time," she said, her green eyes re-focusing on him as her scythe disappeared. Kalin's eyes darkened from their normal light gold to a shade reminiscent of acid green.

Then he turned toward Jack for a moment. The blonde man almost didn't recognize the silver-winged man before him. Kalin sighed and turned back to Kiara. She winced, as if he had said something to her, though none of them had heard anything.

"Fine," she said. "But not here. Not now," she added. Kalin shrugged, his wings disappearing as he did so.

"Who said you're the only one with explaining to do?"

* * *

"Alright, that's it! Who the hell are you?" Jack grumbled to Kiara as the entire group found themselves situated in the house once again. The woman took a deep breath, but before she could speak, Lolliette stepped forward.

"Wait. Why don't you start with why you're scent-carrying?" she suggested. Kiara sighed, but before she could speak, a loud crash got their attention, resulting in a long and awkward silence.

"What was that?" Leo finally asked. Kalin headed to the kitchen, the apparent source of the noise from earlier, and groaned.

"Hey, bro," a slightly familiar but British-accented voice said. Kalin knocked his head against the doorframe. "Do that too much and you'll lose a few brain cells."

"No, really?" Kalin asked, walking away. A wet, dust-covered head stuck itself out of the door after him. Everyone, aside from Kalin and Kiara, stared at the man in shock.

"Is it just me… or does he look an awful lot like Kalin?" Akiza asked. Kalin and Kiara exchanged glances.

"Well, I should bloody well hope I look like my twin brother. It'd defeat the point of being twins if we didn't," the man stated. Kalin shot him a death glare.

"You are not related to me," he stated quite plainly. Kiara patted Kalin's shoulder.

"Don't worry. I understand idiotic family members… all too well," she said, not looking up from the spot on the floor. Kalin raised an eyebrow.

"Marik or Jacob?" he wondered.

"Kitsii," she replied.

By this point, everyone else was lost. "Uh, someone want to rewind and explain?" Luna asked. Kalin's 'twin' bowed to her… and immediately fell flat on his face.

"That would be Odin," Kalin said quite simply. "He fell through the roof, by the way." No one wanted to know why the man had been on the roof in the first place. Kiara sighed, bringing Lolliette's attention back to her.

"Your turn now. Why are you scent-carrying?" she asked. The dark-haired woman sighed again.

"Alright. You guys already know that I'm a Watcher. In times of need, we're moved from world to world, dimension to dimension," she began. "I was born and raised right here in Neo Domino City, but in a parallel dimension. My full name is Kiara Zola Kitari Atlas. Jack Atlas is… _was_… my husband."

The room was silenced… except for Odin, who was making rather strange noises from his spot on the floor. Kalin kept his eyes on his shoes.

"Wait, you mean Jack exists in two dimensions?" Yusei asked, his mind managing to begin connecting dots faster than the other occupants of the room. Kiara nodded.

"Everyone in this room, with the exceptions of Kalin, Odin, and myself, exist in both this dimension and the parallel one I come from. Mind you, the parallel dimension is a few years ahead… about fifteen or so years, give or take a little," she told them.

"Wait, if the parallel dimension is that far ahead, and you and Jack are married…" Akiza started. Kiara closed her eyes.

"_Were_, Akiza," she said, a tear slipping down her cheek. When she opened her eyes, they were fading from violet to green. "Jack died four years ago on his way home from work, when an earthquake knocked down a bridge between Neo Domino and a large island nearby. There was a research facility on the island… Jack, Cameron, and Yusei all worked there."

"Cameron?" Leo wondered. Kiara gave him a weird look for a moment before smacking her forehead.

"Crow, sorry. I spaced out…" she told them. Jack crossed his arms.

"Back to what Akiza was saying…" he hinted. Kiara sighed.

"My daughter went missing three years ago, on the same day her father's body had been found. I haven't seen her since," she said simply. "And to be quite honest… I never should have left Kanan alone like I did."

"She's fine… Ask your sister the next time you see her…" Odin stated, finally managing to stand. Judging from how red his face was, he was probably drunk. "Now where's the damn Lou?"

* * *

By the time Odin was able to join them again, he was acting as if he had never touched alcohol a day in his life… though Kalin was still avoiding everyone's eyes.

"So, um… you two know each other then?" Akiza asked. Kalin sighed.

"Just because I've been hiding out in Neo Domino as a human for a couple of decades doesn't mean I've been relaxing while I'm at it. I know what a Watcher is because I am one," he explained. Odin crossed his arms.

"By the way, Dad's gotten himself infected again," he said, changing the subject entirely. Kiara seemed confused, but Kalin managed to once again bang his head against the wall.

"Wonderful," he grumbled. "Val and Matthias?" he asked, finally looking at his brother. Odin shrugged.

"Hell if I know. Last I heard, Val was working for one of the Councils. No idea which though," the answered. Kalin sighed again. After a few moments, Yusei crossed his arms.

"Do you want to explain why you have wings?" he prompted. Kalin didn't answer, and surprisingly enough, it wasn't Odin that answered either.

"He's an Aegyl," Kiara said simply. "Half Angel, half human, with all of the abilities of an Angel save for one."

"Why did I just have a flash of déjà vu?" Kalin muttered. "Oh, right. Because Devlin told Crow the same thing."

"When did Crow find out about this?" Jack asked. Kiara opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again to listen.

"Save the story for later!" she yelled, running out of the house. The others followed her, only to find that there was a group of vampires, weres, and demons not far from where they had been.

"Gah! Where did these guys come from?" Akiza grumbled. Yusei sighed, but before he could move far, a black but semi-transparent wall appeared between them and the new arrivals. As the wall disappeared, three new vampires and two more demons appeared, all five of them female. Jack blanched as he realized that one of the demons was Carly.

"Well, well, well… if it isn't the little runt that lost her runt," the other demon hissed, her black hair falling over venomous violet eyes. Kiara stared at her sadly.

"Hello, big sister."

* * *

**Kairi: Ha, ha, haha! Bet you guys didn't expect THAT right after a month-long break! First, Kiara is from another dimension. Then she's Jack's wife. Then they have a daughter. THEN her sister shows up with a bunch of vampires/demons/etc. that are trying to kill everybody! Poor girl…**

**Lillith: Kairi…**

**Kairi: Er, right. Reviewer responses!**

**FiringShootingStar- Yup. Yup. Well, sorry for the long wait, but here ya go!**

**Deseya- Hello! Thank you! Well, yeah… It took… two chapters? Three? Oh well. I had to find a way to introduce Demon-Carly into the story. As for the explanations… well, that might take a couple of chapters, because there's another peek at the Spirit Seekers coming up. (Announcement)- Really? Haha, sounds like something I would do! Oh well… But now you can't review this chapter unless you were to sign out and leave a guest review…**

**Kairi: Okay, responses are done… And as I just said in my response to Deseya, we do, in fact, have another peek at the Spirit Seekers coming up. Not our trio from earlier, a different group. Oh, and that reminds me! There's still a poll up on my profile for who you want to win the Angel vs. Corylle vs. Phoebus fight! (It basically decides how much influence the Spirit Seekers have in the story. Phoebus- little to none, Angel- a lot, Corylle- really a lot.)**

**Lillith: I suggest voting quickly, because that poll is coming down on December 4th.**

**Kairi: Yes, what she said. And now… Please leave a review on your way out, and we shall be back on the… er… 8th… Hey, isn't that when I put Hope Flies up?**

**Lillith: Wait, what's that?**

**Kairi: Hope Flies is the re-written Feather Faith that no one took the time out of their day to inform me that it SUCKED. But, oh well. Hope Flies is much better.**

**Lillith: …Oh, that one. Okay, whatever. –leaves-**

**Kairi: -sighs- Oh well. Please review… -leaves-**


	14. Chapter 13, Prophecy

**Kairi: Well, then, now that everyone _knows_ that I'm back… Go read last chapter! There's lots of information in it, and it introduces a bit of a comic relief character… Then, once you've done that, come back and read this chapter. (Everything else is at the bottom.)**

**Lillith: Kairi doesn't own anything other than her OC's.**

* * *

_As the wall disappeared, three new vampires and two more demons appeared, all five of them female. Jack blanched as he realized that one of the demons was Carly._

"_Well, well, well… if it isn't the little runt that lost her runt," the other demon hissed, her black hair falling over venomous violet eyes. Kiara stared at her sadly._

"_Hello, big sister."_

* * *

The demon scoffed. "Big sister? You're as naïve as your brother," she hissed. Kiara sighed.

"At least Marik didn't let the darkness control him," she replied evenly. "You, on the other hand, have embraced it, Heylii. Kairi won't be able to let you back now. You know the rules."

Heylii crossed her arms. "Tch, what rules? Kairi is a weakling. Mark my words, Kiara, the Guardians will fall apart under her," she stated. Then she smirked. "Or perhaps don't. You won't live long enough to watch anyway… Will she, Carly?"

Carly smirked, her blood-red eyes locking onto Kiara's throat. The woman glared back at her before her eyes opened in slight surprise. She turned her shocked gaze onto Heylii, who smirked.

"You know why that magic is forbidden!" Kiara yelled, her shock being replaced by anger. Heylii just laughed.

"Forbidden, yes, but difficult? Only for the weak-minded," she replied. Then the mirth faded from her face as the three vampires turned to face her. The four of them seemed to converse silently before glancing back at the group behind them.

"Kill the witch, turn the humans, and bring the rest to us," the tallest of the three vampires ordered. Carly settled into an almost defensive stance as the rest of the supernatural creatures did the same. Heylii and the three vampires disappeared, literally melting into the shadows, as the crowd rushed forward.

They didn't make it far, as a slightly blinding shower of light collapsed around them, trapping all but one.

Carly was headed straight for Kiara's throat, obviously having no intention of letting her go alive. Kiara shifted, but someone else beat her to it. A small bit of golden-colored dust appeared as a girl in her teens grabbed Carly and knocked her to the ground, managing to smack her head on the pavement and knock her out.

Off to the side a ways was a familiar face, except that this one was framed in gold and copper hair rather than black and violet. Kairi smiled at them and flicked her hand at the dome of light, and they watched as the vampires, demons, and weres disappeared.

Yusei had no idea what exactly was going on, but Kalin seemed to have figured out part of it.

"What are we going to do with Carly? If Heylii really did do that ritual, she'll still be under her control when she wakes up," he said. Kairi nodded and walked over to them.

"That's why we find Sora," she said quite simply. Meanwhile, Kiara was staring in shock at the girl in front of her, and she wasn't the only one. The girl's short, blonde hair spiked out in random directions, and her violet eyes met Jack's cautiously.

And then Kiara's shocked expression faded into one of… well, motherly anger. "Kanan Avella Atlas, where the hell have you been?!"

Leo and Luna burst out laughing as Kanan cringed. Kairi flinched as well and subconsciously took a step back. "Kiara, don't kill your daughter," she called. "You're very welcome to kill me instead," she added, hinting to Kiara that Kanan's disappearance had actually been her fault. Kiara glared at her as she disappeared, leaving behind what Yusei was beginning to think of as the trademark golden dust.

Kiara rolled her eyes and grabbed the back of Kanan's jacket before the blonde teenager could escape. "You're still not out of trouble kiddo," the others heard her mutter. Kiara looked over at Kalin. "I'll send Sora your way," she added before teleporting out with her daughter. They all stood there shocked for a moment.

"I'm confused," Leo stated. Luna sighed.

"For once, Leo, so am I," she informed him. Halldor chuckled as he checked Carly's pulse. He was about to pull her onto his shoulder when Sora appeared, her black hair a stark contrast to the white dress she wore. Her electric blue eyes shone out from under the white hat on her head as she walked over.

"I am so glad that Sera's specialty is foresight," she mumbled, kneeling by Carly and placing a hand on her forehead. A light blue glow encased her hand.

Behind her, Jack turned to Kalin. "What the hell did that woman do to her?" he asked. Kalin sighed and glanced at his twin, and Odin shrugged.

"Don't look at me, I've only seen it once," he said simply. Kalin rolled his eyes.

"So have I, idiot," he replied. If Odin was offended, he did a poor job of showing it. Sora sighed.

"Let me finish this and I'll explain it," she told them. "Besides… there's more than just this that I should probably explain to you guys."

* * *

Sora hadn't trusted that house after the attack, so she led the group to Lillith's cave home under the cliff. Yusei sighed as they made their way to the living room, something that caught Breo's attention.

"Something wrong?" he asked. Yusei glanced over at him, then shook his head.

"Not really…" he muttered. Jack and Kalin exchanged glances.

"The cliff we're under… it's where you were dueling, isn't it?" Kalin asked. Yusei nodded, and the blue-haired man dropped it, understanding that Yusei likely didn't want to talk about the events that resulted in him being turned. No one blamed him for not wanting to talk.

Finally, with Carly safely deposited on the couch and assurances from Sora that she would be sane once she woke, the small girl turned to face them.

"What the hell did that woman do to her?" Jack demanded. Sora sighed.

"Heylii used an ancient form of demon magic. Blood magic is forbidden, but that's exactly what this is," she started. Yusei raised an eyebrow.

"Blood magic? Isn't that elven?" he asked. Sora nodded.

"Some forms are. This one is demonic," she replied before turning back to the rest of the group. "Heylii used her blood to influence Carly's mind… It's a form of mind control, and it's not easily broken."

"You mean to tell us that this Heylii woman was controlling Carly's mind through blood?" Lolliette asked. Sora frowned.

"Let's put it this way… You know how humans can only be turned by younger vampires if they drink the vampire's blood? That's pretty much how the whole blood magic thing goes. Demons feed on blood like vampires, so Heylii probably tricked Carly into drinking her blood while she was still disoriented from the transformation," Sora explained. Akiza crossed her arms.

"Why do I have a feeling that there's more to this?" she muttered. Sora sighed.

"There is… Demonic blood magic works on anyone, regardless of species, age, whatever," she told them. "And I've got a bad feeling that someone else in this room is going to find out what Carly's already learned about being under someone else's influence when blood magic is involved."

Kalin sighed. "Let's hope that's just a bad feeling and not your ability of foresight kicking in again," he muttered. Sora's electric blue eyes locked with his, and he resisted the urge to sigh again.

'_Too late,'_ Sora told him telepathically. _'It's already been seen.'_

* * *

**Kairi: Oho… Any guesses as to who's gonna get brainwashed? We've got… oh, let's see… Carly waking up… Akiza meeting someone unexpected… the someone unexpected kidnapping her… Yusei chasing after them… An already-introduced character finally giving us his name… Jack nearly getting killed… Halldor has an ability… Crow actually managing to throw magic at something other than a stationary target without missing… hm…**

**Lillith: Oh wow, you've actually written some of the plot out now?**

**Kiara: Instead of just having it in your head…?**

**Kairi: What? No, it's still only in my head, I've just got the next couple chapters really planned out, because it involves killing one character (Finally! Time to start killing people! There are too many characters in this freaking story…), turning another two, finding out exactly who did something early on in the story, and Crow hitting another milestone. (Right behind 'not running into things while flying'.)**

**Lillith: O_O**

**Kiara: So… You want to give them a hint as to who's gonna get brainwashed?**

**Kairi: Well, here are your choices:**

**Halldor, Crow, Akiza, Yusei, or Carly (again)**

**Kairi: Good luck guessing who it will be. You've got a couple of chapters before then… And by that, I mean we've got next chapter, the chapter after it, and then the chapter that ends with us figuring out exactly who's been brainwashed. –grins- Halldor!**

**Halldor: Let me guess, preview?**

**Kairi: Nope, already done that… kinda all author's note, actually. Try again.**

**Halldor: …Oh. –turns to readers- Please don't forget to drop a review on your way out. We'll be back on the fourteenth.**

**Kairi: That's it! See ya next week, folks! –poofs-**


	15. Chapter 14, Tranquil

**Kairi: I am disappointed in you all… Kind of… Ah well. Explanations at the bottom. I don't own anything but my OC's (which, according to Microsoft Excel, I have over 250 now… not in this story, alone, of course, but...). So, enjoy.**

* * *

The woman sighed. She should have known that it wouldn't be that easy. Of course Angel would be difficult. As if she didn't have enough things on her plate. But then, as a Second, she rarely had a chance to think about anything for any length of time. Sending him hadn't been the wisest of choices, and neither had Corylle. That girl was the more troublesome between herself and her twin, who sat near the woman in question, playing around with some wiring inside the head of an android.

Three more people appeared out of the shadows, and had the woman taken the time to look, she would have seen the markings on the backs of their necks, marking each of them with a number.

"This would be so much easier if Felix hadn't decided to tear her apart," the girl fiddling with the wiring grumbled. The woman rolled her eyes.

"It's not my fault that Angel managed to override that android's programming," she replied. The crimson-pink-haired girl looked up at her, her eyes a sharp amber, rather than her twin's stormy gray.

"Zero I was a mistake. I should have deactivated him when I had the chance," she grumbled. The woman chuckled.

"And risk Four finding out that we're all your little toys?" she laughed. The girl glared at her.

"You're not my 'toys'," she argued. "Just because I made you, doesn't mean you're my slaves. You know that, Kotare."

Kotare looked up at the sky. "What about Corylle?" she wondered. The girl sighed.

"She's human. You, Five, and Seven were the only females created before I hit Fourteen," she replied. Kotare shrugged.

"How am I supposed to remember? You didn't equip me with a photographic memory. I was supposed to be the human one," she muttered. The girl growled under her breath, more at the circuitry she was fighting with than at Kotare.

"Six, get over here," she grumbled. A green-haired boy with black eyes stepped over and knelt, somehow managing to turn himself off. "Thank you…" the girl mumbled, opening a hatch on the back of his head identical to the one she was working with on the girl's head. After examining the wiring for a while, she set to work again after closing the hatch and starting Six back up. The boy stood and watched as she continued about her work. "Aha! Finally!" the girl cried out in triumph. She stood and closed the hatch on the back of the girl's head, activating her as she did so.

The girl looked almost identical to Six, save for the fact that her eyes were white, outlined by a thin black line around her irises. She looked around, then tilted her head to the side. "Twenty-four?" she asked. Six smiled sheepishly.

"He… disassembled you," he answered his 'twin'. Then he looked at the amber-eyed girl who was picking up a tablet, which she turned on to examine a large number of flashing dots, some of which were blue, most of which were red, and two of which were green. "Zale put you back together," he added. The girl looked at Zale and smiled.

"Thank you, Miss Azalea," she said happily. Zale's expression darkened as she shot a glare at her.

"Call me that again, Five, and I'll disassemble you myself," she threatened. Five squeaked and ran off, Six on her heels.

Kotare laughed. "Was that really necessary?" she asked. Zale shrugged.

"Eh, who cares?" she muttered. Kotare sighed before disappearing into a silver-blue mist. Zale then looked up at the remaining two androids. One of them had wild midnight blue hair that did a poor job of hiding his eyes, one of which was violet, and the other was completely black, with no other color to be found. The other, however, was identical in every way to Angel. "So, Thirty-One, Zero. Who wants to help me track down a new subject?"

Zero II smirked, and Zale smiled. She had her answer already.

* * *

Kalin sighed. He had had no idea that the Shadow Guild owned a large mansion on the outskirts of Neo Domino City… Which was where much of the group from Castle Silas had re-located. Including Crow, who seemed to be getting the hang of flying.

Well, at least he wasn't flying _into_ things anymore.

The ginger in question managed to land (if somewhat sloppily) nearby as Kalin flipped the page in the book he was reading. Crow walked over and crossed his arms, and Kalin noted that the familiar gold color he was starting to associate with Crow's magic did not envelope his wings as Devlin's emerald had.

"You still haven't figured how to hide your wings, have you?" he asked. Crow sighed.

"Well, I figure it doesn't matter all that much right now. Everyone here is either supernatural or married to it, so…" he trailed off. Kalin rolled his eyes.

"Tch, whatever," he grumbled. Crow looked at him with worry in his eye.

"Um… is something wrong?" he asked cautiously. A silver-winged, blue-haired man landed nearby and walked over.

"Not at all, chap! This bloke's just in a cruddy mood 'cause I decided to drop in," he informed Crow as the now-Fallen Angel realized that he was identical to Kalin.

"Oh, bog off, you bloody ingrate," Kalin grumbled at him, letting the British accent he'd been holding back loose for the first time in days. It had been almost a week since Sora had severed Heylii's link to Carly, and the reporter-turned-demon had yet to wake. On the other, more mentally-occupied hand, Yusei and Jack had fun teasing Kalin whenever he let the accent slip.

Akiza had found it interesting that Odin's accent kept nudging Kalin's out of it's mysterious hole, but at least she hadn't teased him about it yet.

"So, what's with the accent?" Crow asked. Kalin rolled his eyes.

"Mother and Father raised us in northern Britain. Odin and I were the only two to pick up the accent… although I try to avoid it as much as possible…," he explained. Another winged figure dropped from the sky and landed just off to the side of them.

"Right, because that's going to make you any less related to Odin. Nice try, bro," the girl grumbled. Kalin looked up from his book and shot her an odd look as she walked over. "Yeah, I realize this is sudden, but hey, I got shit to get done… And don't ask, because I'd rather not try and explain it," she added as she walked past. Her white hair shifted in the wind, and Crow crossed his arms.

"Who was that?" he asked. Odin scratched his head.

"That would have been Valkyria… Our sister," he replied. Kalin sighed and went back to reading, then froze for a moment. Seconds later, he was walking into the mansion.

"Come on. Carly's waking up," he called over his shoulder. Odin shrugged and walked off in another direction, while Crow followed Kalin in.

"Carly's been turned?" he wondered. Kalin nodded.

"Oh yes, some time ago. She's been brainwashed… and now she's waking up after having been released from the woman who had control over her," he replied. Crow nodded, not really understanding, but choosing not to comment anyway.

Meanwhile, halfway across town, Akiza was out on a hunting trip… and by hunting, I mean she was tracking a familiar scent, not feeding.

The magenta-haired woman stopped in front of a large but abandoned warehouse. "That's strange… I would have sworn those windows had glass in them the last time I was by here," she muttered. Then, looking around, she nodded, a determined look in her eye. She ran up the wall across from the warehouse and the busted-out windows, managing to climb a ways up before pushing herself off as hard as she could.

'As hard as she could' turned out to be a little too hard, as she went sailing through the open 'windows' easily, but now with no way of landing softly.

Then, still in midair, she rolled her eyes and started to flip herself around. While her landing wasn't exactly graceful, it was a landing, rather than a crash. She looked around, and wasn't surprised to find that the scent she had been following was stronger in here. Apparently, whoever she was after was using this as a base.

"Akiza?" a shocked voice asked. Akiza turned around and gasped in shock.

Despite the fact that the woman in front of her looked older than the magenta-haired woman remembered her being, and she remembered well, as she had seen the woman earlier that day, she was still shocked.

A steel-gray gaze met her almond one from behind raven-colored bangs.

* * *

**Kairi: Okay, so… First off, I apologize for quality. I had to force this one out, but trust me, it gets much, much better. And, any guesses as to who Akiza found in the warehouse? I'm probably going to surprise everyone with the answer... Also, I lied. You'll find out (kind of) who's going to get brainwashed next chapter. And on to a totally different subject, I'm slightly disappointed to see that I had only one review for two chapters. (Well, technically.) So I was sad. And my plot bunnies were sad. And then one of them kicked me… except it kicked me toward A Spatial Tear instead of this. Which is not good, because I've only got another chapter or two done.**

**Lillith: And the point is?  
Kairi: I'm rambling, so there is no point. Not really, at least. But, regardless… Let's see if we can get to 50 reviews before I post chapter 18, which will go up on December 8th, the day after my birthday. (I know it's asking for a lot, however…) If we can pull that off… I'll do double updates starting then and going until… January 1st. That's either five or ten updates, depending on how many reviews I get. (December is the month of giving, after all…)**

**Lillith: Review hoarder…**

**Kairi: Hey, I think it's a fair trade! Well, anyway… we've got four chapters (including this one) until then, and 19 reviews to get to 50… Oh well… I'll just shut up and leave before I keep rambling. But don't forget to review on your way out!**


	16. Chapter 15, Changing Part 1

**Kairi: So... The long-awaited chapter that tells us exactly which of these characters is going to be brainwashed... By the way. NEVER get so distracted by a fanfiction that you can't sleep. Because I got absolutely NO sleep last night after reading this story (that's incomplete, to make things worse...) and I am now running on a cup of coffee... -finishes coffee and runs off to get another cup-**

**Lillith: That isn't going to end well... Anyway, Kairi doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh, but any OC's (and there are a lot) are definitely hers.**

**Kairi: -yelling from the kitchen- That's not completely true, Lillith!**

**Lillith: Well, hers or her friends'. Now, go read!**

* * *

"_Akiza?" a shocked voice asked. Akiza turned around and gasped in shock._

_Despite the fact that the woman in front of her looked older than the magenta-haired woman remembered her being, and she remembered well, as she had seen the woman earlier that day, she was still shocked._

_A steel-gray gaze met her almond one from behind raven-colored bangs._

* * *

"Well, well, well…" the woman practically sang as she started circling Akiza. "Imagine seeing you here."

"Carly…" Akiza breathed. She knew that something wasn't right, but she just couldn't figure out what.

The older version of Carly smiled. "Good to know that I'm still recognizable, even if I'm more than a decade older than you," she said, an almost sinister tone to her voice. Akiza gasped.

"You… you're from the parallel dimension!" she realized. Carly nodded.

"Yes, and this time I'm not letting Jack get away," she hissed. "If that means forcing him to follow Yusei, then so be it."

Carly then lunged for Akiza, who was still frozen in shock.

* * *

Jack found himself caught between worry and frustration. Worry for Carly, who was finally rousing from unconsciousness, and frustration at one of the Nighthawks, a man named Viktor, who refused to let the human man near the demon woman.

Carly moaned once before rolling over… and falling off the bed. Viktor, who had been locked in a staring contest with Jack, ran to her side, the blonde on his heels regardless of his warning to stay back.

"Ngh… Uh… Jack?" she mumbled, looking around. The blonde breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that her eyes were their normal gray, rather than the blood-red she had last looked at him with.

"I'm here, Carly," he told her. She looked at Viktor in confusion.

"Who… are you?" she wondered. Viktor sighed.

"Viktor Corvinus, ma'am," he introduced himself. "Are you thirsty?" he asked, watching Jack cautiously. The man in question shot a glare at him.

"Um… a little," Carly answered. Viktor nodded.

"Alright. We'll have something up here for you in a minute," he told her. She nodded, then managed to sit up. Jack, finally giving into his feelings, pulled her into a hug almost immediately. What happened next happened too fast for any of the trio to register before it occurred.

Jack let out a surprise cry as fangs sank into a spot between his neck and shoulder, while Viktor grabbed at the back of Carly's neck. Only a moment later, Carly was separated from the blonde, who was now clutching his neck, and the white-haired Viktor was scowling.

Carly put a hand to her lips and drew them away, revealing them to be covered in Jack's blood. She looked embarrassed. "Oh… you meant _that _kind of thirsty…" she mumbled. Viktor groaned and attempted to bang his head on the nearest solid thing, which happened to be a wall.

A heavy sigh alerted the trio to the fact that they were no longer alone. Standing in the doorway was a man with quite a likeness to Viktor, save for the fact that his hair was longer and brown, rather than white. His eyes were amber, a slight contrast to Viktor's gray.

"Yes, my brother meant _that_ kind of thirsty," he muttered. He walked over and handed Carly what appeared to be a large fountain drink. Jack grimaced. He knew very well what was in that cup, and it certainly wasn't soda.

"Esmé!" Viktor yelled. Jack flinched. He hadn't expected the sudden yell, and the blood loss was starting to make him a little dizzy.

Viktor's brother forcefully moved Jack into a sitting position where he was leaning against the bed. A few moments later, the silver-haired Viktor had called for stepped into the room, sighed, and pushed Viktor's brother away.

"Move, Marcus, I need to be able to see him," she grumbled as justification. The younger brother moved happily enough, leaving Esmé to see to Jack's bite. A light green light came from her hand as she started mouthing words to herself, and within a minute, the wound was fully healed. She looked over at Carly, who still looked quite embarrassed, then back at Jack, who was examining his own blood with something akin to fascination.

Then she rolled her eyes and left. Marcus followed her out, and, after confirming that the duo wouldn't cause any more major trouble, Viktor followed him.

* * *

Down in the entrance hall of the mansion, Yusei and Kalin were talking to Crow. Leo and Luna stood with them as well, while Lucian lounged on the floor in wolf form and Lolliette sat on top of a marble sculpture depicting a person.

"I'm starting to get worried. Akiza's been gone for hours, you'd think she'd be back by now," Yusei was saying. Luna nodded.

"She's never gone out by herself for this long since becoming a vampire," she added. Lucian's ears perked up.

*Well, there's always the option of tracking her down,* he said. If you're that worried about her, go find her.

Kalin nodded and looked at Yusei, who seemed to have reached the same conclusion. "I'm gonna go find her," the latter said out loud. Kalin crossed his arms.

"I'll fly over the city, see if I can find anything," he replied. Crow looked at him in confusion.

"Um, won't people see you?" he asked. Kalin rolled his eyes.

"Not if I put a Mirage spell on myself first," he said. Then, as his figure shimmered and faded, his voice rang out again. "Yusei, head toward Satellite. I'll comb northern Neo Domino and then head south after you."

"Right," the raven-haired vampire replied before he took off running. Lolliette, deciding that sitting on stone statues was no longer entertaining, hopped off and bounced over to Crow.

"You're trying to learn magic, right?" she asked. Crow nodded. "Can you do shields yet?" Crow shook his head 'no'. Lolliette smiled. "Oh goody. Something I can help you with. Come on!" she said happily, dragging the Fallen Angel off. Lucian looked up at Leo and Luna.

*What are you two going to do?* he asked. Luna sighed.

"I'd love to help, but there's nothing we can do right now," she stated. Lucian nodded.

*Well, in that case… Would you like to help me track down the other Nighthawks? There's something I'd like to discuss with them,* he asked. The twins nodded.

"Might as well," Leo stated.

* * *

Yusei looked up at the warehouse cautiously. Akiza had been here alright, and recently too. Not only that, but there was not one, but two slightly familiar scents here. He took a deep breath and looked at the broken windows before picking one and jumping straight up. He caught the edge with his hands before vaulting himself through the window to land inside.

Looking around in the gloom, Yusei realized that the darkness was sticking in a way it shouldn't. Not for a vampire, at least.

"And here I told her you wouldn't come," a familiar voice came out of the darkness. Yusei stiffened, recognizing the voice as belonging to the man who had dueled him on the cliff two and a half years previously.

The shadows parted to reveal a dark-haired man with amber eyes. "After all… how could you come to save your precious Akiza if you've been thrown off a cliff at a height that is fatal for humans…" he continued. Yusei took a step back as the man came closer. "Although it seems you survived… long enough for someone to turn you, at least."

Yusei took a deep breath and stopped backing up. Behind the man, he thought he could see someone else in the darkness. "Who else is there?" he asked, probably louder than necessary. The woman stepped out of the darkness, and Yusei furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Hello, Yusei," Carly greeted him. But Yusei's mind, so used to working with programs that required the utmost attention to detail, caught the little things immediately. This woman smelled slightly different, and was older, by at least a decade. Her hair was darker, more of a blue-black than the green-black he was used to.

And then, a snippet of conversation he had overheard between Kalin and Kiara after the group's first encounter with Carly came back to him.

"_They're both here, Kalin. If we don't get rid of one, it'll cause a spatial paradox, and you know as well as I do what happened the last time,"_ Kiara had said.

"You're from Kiara's dimension," Yusei stated. He knew immediately that mentioning Kiara was the wrong thing to do, as Carly's calm face became one of rage.

"Kiara!" she spat. "That little witch lied to me one too many times," she hissed. Yusei started backing away again, in an attempt to get away from the angry woman.

The man who had knocked him off the cliff, however, ran around behind him and held his arms tight, keeping him in place. "Oh, I think not. Miss Heylii is rather annoyed with you all for taking _her_ Carly. I think it only a fair trade that you pay the price for that," he whispered in Yusei's ear. The vampire tried to pry himself loose, but it was a futile attempt.

Carly grinned sadistically. "Heylii can have him after I've got Jack, Ryden," she told him. "Until then… he'll have to settle for staying here."

* * *

**Kairi: So... Yusei is going to get brainwashed. There are two Carlys... um... Anything else?**

**Lillith: The poll.**

**Kairi: Right! Spirit Seeker involvement! There is currently only one vote... So I suggest voting before I take it down on December 4th! Otherwise... Well, Angel is winning right now, so they're going to pop up again. But you guys really should vote... (Especially if you don't want another set of characters to try to keep track of. It's not a problem for me, but...)**

**Lillith: Kairi, you're getting distracted.**

**Kairi: Oh, right. Sorry. By the way... The lack of reviews is not condusive to that double-update month I promised if we hit 50! And there's one last thing I want to know... I'm thinking about doing a special chapter for chapter 25, kinda like a deleted scenes thing. So, I'd like your input on that as well. And now that I'm done rambling, enjoy your day!**


	17. Chapter 16, Changing Part 2

**Kairi: So then, I apologize for not updating last Monday when I was supposed to. I had no reviews whatsoever, so I kinda forgot about this story.**

**Lillith: And now you're updating Chapter 16 when you were supposed to be posting 17.**

**Kairi: Yes, but I'll be putting 17 up either later tonight or tomorrow morning (depending on when I finish typing it). Although, I will say now that since we're only a few days out from the 8th of December at we're still only at 31 reviews, the chances of getting double updates all through December are slim...**

**Lillith: How about we just let them read?**

**Kairi: Alright, alright. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, but OC's are mine, Tony's or Winx's. Oh, and I apologize for the filler chapter. 17 will be much more interesting.**

**Lillith: And don't forget about the poll! It comes down Tuesday!**

**Kairi: Oh, and cookies to anyone who figures out who the new, random character in the first half of this chapter is! (Hint: she is named.)**

* * *

Luna cringed as Esmé slipped the needle into her arm. After a few hours of tracking down random Nighthawks, including Trudy and Devlin, who were both human now, the group had set up a blood drive. Esmé, who had a medical degree, along with a few of the Fae and more experienced humans, were in the process of setting everyone up.

Luna and Leo had been talked into it by a rather eccentric woman. They had lost sight of her after they had agreed to donate blood. After, neither of them wanted a thirsty vampire to start sucking their blood because the Shadow Guild's blood bank was poorly equipped.

Leo grimaced at the sight of the needle Esmé was preparing to stick into his arm. "Oh, I don't like needles…" he muttered. A dry laugh caught the attention of both twins.

"Just close your eyes and turn your head away. It really doesn't hurt all that much," a young woman told them. To Luna, she looked to be somewhere between their age and Akiza's. Green eyes shone slightly out of an almost-too pale face while light brown hair that reflected reds, golds, and darker browns when the light hit it was mostly tied up into a ponytail on the top of her head. Bangs fell free, occasionally slipping down over her left eye, only to be flipped out of the way.

"Um, why are you still here?" Luna asked curiously. The woman had been sitting there since she and Leo had come in. "Or, have you not…?" she trailed off. The woman smiled slightly, though to Luna it looked more like a grimace.

She then held her right arm up slightly, showing it wrapped around the elbow. "I'm just waiting for my vision to go dark," she told her, the slight smile on her face making Luna wonder if the woman was delusional.

"Is it supposed to?!" Leo asked in shock. There was also worry written across his features, and Luna sighed. The woman seemed to agree with her.

"Oh no. But my blood pressure is on the low side, so every time I donate, I have to wait about five minutes, get tilted back, then about five minutes later I can get up and go," she told them.

Luna tilted her head to the side. "Wait… you were being serious about your vision going dark?" she asked, incredulity slipping into her voice. The woman nodded.

"Mm-hm… As a matter of fact…" she trailed off, looking over at Esmé, who was preparing to stick a needle into Devlin's arm. "Esmé?" she called, her eyes wandering slightly.

The blonde woman ran back to her and tilted her chair back for her, and Luna realized just how labored her breathing had become. "Thank you," the woman breathed as Esmé headed back over to Devlin as if nothing had happened.

"You sound a little breathless," Leo commented. The woman chuckled.

"Oh, I imagine. It happens a lot," she told them. After a short while, a bit of color started to return to her face. "So… you two first-time donors?" she asked. Luna nodded, and she smiled. "There was this kid in my astronomy class back in high school, name of Andy. He once was telling his friend that he should have donated, and the words he said about it are some that I will never forget."

Leo, who had completely forgotten about the needle in his arm, looked at the woman curiously. "What did he say?" he asked.

The woman smiled. "His exact words were, 'It's that warm, fuzzy feeling somewhere between knowing you've saved a life and delirium from blood loss.' Of course, that was back when my blood was going into a blood bank in a hospital," she told them. She sat herself up a bit and looked around, then apparently decided that she would rather remain semi-horizontal.

"Is that really what it's like?" Luna asked. The woman chuckled.

"Eh, close enough. Then again, I'm insane to begin with, so I'm not certain I'm the one to ask," she told her. Luna rolled her eyes, while Leo chuckled.

A moment later, Esmé was back at Luna's side. A beeper started up, and was almost immediately silenced. The next thing Luna knew, the needle was gone from her arm and Esmé had wrapped her up.

The blonde woman floated over to the odd girl and sat her back up before going to Leo's side. As with Luna, a beeper went off, and Luna realized that it was the machine that was taking their blood that was doing the beeping.

"Well, I'm off. See you two around, I suppose," the woman said as she walked off.

"Wait, what's your name?" Leo asked before she could step out of the room. The woman turned and smiled at them.

"Ky," she said simply before leaving.

Luna smiled. She had a feeling. She didn't know if they would see her again or not, but she had this feeling about the woman.

She wasn't sure if it was good or bad either.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kalin was standing on top of one the Infinity Ring that still stood halfway between Satellite and Neo Domino. If anyone noticed him, they forgot him again in a moment. Not that many people saw him, between the glare from the crystal atop it and the magic he had cast about himself.

Though, he reflected, it was wonderful to be in his true form again after so many years as a human. Certainly, he had released his wings a few times, but he had maintained his human form. Odin, too, had kept up his human form upon crash-landing in the kitchen, though he didn't limit the length of his hair in quite the way Kalin did.

He smiled, letting the wind blow what loose, silvery-blue strands they could out behind him, which, of course, was all of them, due to his current lack of something to bind the excessively long hair with. His normally shoulder-length hair now fell to his knees, but that wasn't the only change.

Golden eyes that had been tinted by browns and greens were now clear of those other colors and were a bright gold challenged only in this vicinity by the well-maintained metal beneath his feet. Angular features were slightly softened, and calloused hands were smooth.

Kalin's wings, normally a mottled gray similar to an owl's wings, were larger, and where they connected to his back, there were feathers sprouting from the skin as well.

The half-angel had abandoned his shirt some time ago, as it had been inhibiting his ability to fly by constricting his wings. He could only move them so much when he had to worry about not tearing the fabric hiding his upper body.

Hence, the reason why he was in his true form. His skin was ghastly pale as a human, unlike Odin, who had at least a bit of color to his skin.

Even if no one could see him, he did actually care about appearances.

After looking around one last time and sighing at the lack of leads, he leapt off of the ring, opening his wings almost immediately. He would have time to goof off later, but for right now, he had two vampires to locate.

Two, because he hadn't seen Yusei for an hour.

Down below, a flash of magenta caught his eye, and he swooped down closer to see what it was, as he had been flying very high above the city. He smiled in relief and flew down to land a few blocks ahead of Akiza. She was running rather quickly, so he wasn't surprised that he landed just as she ran up to him.

Akiza stared at him in shock for a moment. "Odin?" she asked curiously. Kalin chuckled.

"No, Kalin. Odin is busy trying to figure out what our sister is up to," he told her, not a hint of the British accent on his tongue. Akiza raised an eyebrow, likely due to his appearance, though he also figured it could be attributed to his lack of a shirt. He decided to address both. "The shirt was inhibiting my ability to fly, so I ditched it. And then I decided that I wasn't comfortable flying around in my human body," he said quite simply.

Akiza nodded, then shook her head. When she next looked at Kalin, terror was etched into her eyes. "Kalin! Carly and this demon have Yusei! They're going to take him to Heylii! She'll brainwash him!" she cried quickly. Kalin stared at her, the horror in her eyes reflected in his, for two different reasons.

"Where?" he asked. Akiza pointed.

"A warehouse that direction. But hurry, Carly said she'd already called Heylii!" she told him. Kalin nodded.

"Get back to the mansion and tell Odin, he knows how to get in contact with Kairi, and we need her right now!" he said, already taking off again. Akiza ran off in the other direction, and Kalin clenched his teeth as his heart raced.

They could _not_ afford to lose Yusei.


	18. Chapter 17, War Part 1

**Kair****i: So, this chapter and the next are both up here now... Thanks to Deseya for reviewing! And... I don't own anything. Please, please, please leave a review on your way out...**

* * *

While Kalin raced towards the warehouse she had just escaped from, Akiza ran for the mansion. Kalin had told her to get Odin and have him contact Kairi, but she had other reasons for running toward the mansion.

Anxiety gnawed away at her though. Would she make it in time to warn everyone? Would they be able to stop the attackers?

Would her human friends make it out alive?

Akiza pushed herself harder, despite the fact that doing so only made her thirsty. This was more important than her thirst. This was more important that her, or even the Shadow Guild. Sure, the Shadow Guild was the only group with any chance of stopping this, but that was why the were important.

The mansion came into sight at the same time the small army did. Akiza clenched her teeth and kept running, straight through the gates, up toward the door. Lucian stood out front with ever werewolf in the guild, along with one small girl dressed in white. Once again, Akiza found herself thanking every deity she could think of that Sora was on their side.

"Get inside and find Esmé, she'll give you some blood," the magenta-haired woman heard Sora say as she ran past. She nodded, though it really wasn't necessary. She knew she needed it, especially if she was going to be any help against the enemy army. Akiza could already feel her skin trying to burn from the sunlight.

* * *

Kalin was in a bad situation. One-on-one against a demon, he could do. One vs. three against vampires, he could do.

But one vs. four, when his opponents were three vampires and a demon? Now that, he was having trouble with. He scowled. He was still in his proper Aegyl form, so it wasn't as if his magic was weakened like it generally was when he was in human form, but he wasn't having a lot of luck with these guys.

And, to make this worse (in his opinion, at least), he had slipped back into the British accent on accident.

Kalin muttered a few choice curses before throwing a simple fireball at one of the vampires. He didn't have the time to actually cast a proper spell, so he was resorting to using what he commonly dubbed as 'short-call' magic.

Sure, it took much less time to cast, but at the cost of using weaker magic. And all the while, it was taking its slow but steady toll on his strength.

"Oh, bloody hell. I should have brought Akiza with me," he muttered, almost off-handedly tossing a block of ice at the demon in irritation. The demon screamed in anger and pain before unleashing a fiery attack, and Kalin raised an eyebrow. "If I'd known you were a fire elemental, I would have started using ice against you sooner," he commented.

"Bastard!" the demon (he was still having difficulty determining its gender) screamed at him. He smirked.

"I prefer the term 'son of a bitch'. Less offensive to my dad," he replied, tossing an icicle at the demon as if it were a spear.

The demon was too busy cursing at him to realize that he had done so.

A moment later, said demon died.

* * *

Carly, despite being twenty times stronger than the man standing next to her, was freaking out. Jack was doing his best to calm her down, but he was part of the problem.

Which was what had Rosalie exasperated.

She was half-tempted to simply pick up the stubborn blonde and take him to the basement herself, but before she could do so, the sound of shattering glass caught her attention.

A blur of red and black streaked across the room to where Jack and Carly were standing. Carly, seeing the demon before it could reach them, tried to move Jack out of the way.

Rosalie ran over to grab Jack, but was interrupted by two vampires and a rather haggard-looking man. His scent gave the blonde woman reason to believe that he was a half-were, half-sprite.

She sighed and launched herself at the closer of the two vampires, a tall woman with brown hair. The male vampire and the half-blood attacked her as well. In the span of a few seconds, Rosalie spotted something else she though interesting.

The half-sprite man's eyes were blood-red, almost glowing. She raised an eyebrow and managed to get behind him by launching herself around the female vampire, then knocked him out. "I'll deal with you later," she grumbled. Then, looking around quickly, she had to wonder were Carly and Jack had disappeared to.

They were, in fact, a few floors above where she was. Or at least, Carly and the attacking demon were. Jack was racing up the steps to find them, all the while managing to (somehow) evade the many vampires, sprites, Fae, and other such species that were running about.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Halldor yelled as the blonde shot past him. Jack scowled, but didn't answer the question. A moment later, he realized that Halldor was now following him up the stairs. He sighed.

"I'm trying to find Carly," he admitted. Halldor rolled his eyes and shot off, probably to find the demon woman in question.

Jack stepped into a commons area to find Carly, Halldor, Crow, Lolliette, and a white-haired woman with gray wings fighting a hoard of vampires and demons twice their number. He stared at the scene, wondering what he had been thinking, following Carly up here.

One of the vampires spotted him and had its fangs buried in his neck before he could do anything more. A blast of light later, and the vampire was screaming and attacking Crow, whose expression could only be read as 'oh shit, now why did I do that?'

Carly's scream was the last thing Jack heard before blacking out.

* * *

Kalin was at the end of his rope. He had fought his way through eight groups of vampires and demons, only to find himself at a dead end. He slammed his head against the wall he was leaning against, then cringed.

He sighed and opened his eyes, then frowned as he examined the far wall. Crossing the room, he noted the thin black lines that outlined what seemed to be a well-hidden door. Using a small amount of the magic he had left, he opened the door and stepped through, almost stumbling as his foot found air for a moment.

As Kalin headed down the steps, the door closed behind him, and he sighed. He was hoping this wasn't for naught because if it was, then he would have expended all of his magic for absolutely no reason.

A single flame lit the room at the bottom of the stairs, but what Kalin felt emanating from that room was pure darkness, and he shuddered. He hadn't felt that much darkness in years, not since he was a child…

"Well, well, what have we here?" a cold, unfamiliar voice rang out of the shadows. Kalin took the last few steps down into the room and sighed. There were seven people in the room, one of whom was male, three were female, and three, he couldn't determine the genders of due to the darkness.

He was almost relieved that none of the figures was familiar, but then he realized that one of them was so cloaked by the shadows that he could barely see the person at all. Kalin prayed that his gut was wrong, and that it wasn't Yusei.

Heylii stepped forward, regaining his attention. "And for what reason do I have the pleasure of having an Aegyl in my current home for?" she asked. Kalin was silent for a few moments as he looked around.

There was a woman with white-blue hair and crimson eyes off to the side. She smelled like ice, and Kalin had to wonder exactly what she was. Then there was the demon male that had the beginnings of a smirk on his face. Back in the shadows, he could identify a female vampire, one of the ones that had shown up with Heylii before, so he assumed that the two shadows hovering nearby were the other two vampires in question. There was also the unknown figure.

And then there was Carly. Kalin sighed, wishing that Akiza and Kiara had been wrong. "Hello," he mumbled, knowing that everyone in the room could hear him. Carly smirked, while Heylii took another step forward.

"And here I was trying to be hospitable. After all, you did barge in here without invitation," she said. Kalin watched her warily.

"I was looking for someone," he told her. The demon's smirk widened, while Carly looked pleased with herself. Kalin resisted the urge to flinch.

"Oh? Who?" Heylii asked, still pretending to be amiable.

Kalin took a deep breath and gathered what little magic he still had at his disposal, carefully hiding it from the rest of the room. "Yusei," he answered, cautiously watching the shadow in the corner.

Heylii grinned. "Is that so?" she cooed. She chuckled darkly. "Well then, Yusei, why don't you say hello to your friend?"

Kalin was prepared for the shadow in the corner to launch itself at him, but he hadn't expected the electrical jolt that rushed through his body as he reached out to grab Yusei.

As Kalin's magic teleported the two to the courtyard behind the mansion, Kalin fell to his knees and tried to hold himself together.

Blood-red eyes watched him with a sadistic fascination.


	19. Chapter 18, War Part 2

Valkyria heard Carly's scream before she realized that she had lost track of one of the vampires in the attacking group. A flash of light had caught her attention, but just barely, as she had been busy setting up a Holy spell.

Holy, of course, was from a different dimension altogether, but that mattered little to her. She had long since figured out how to use it in other dimensions. And, because it was light-based, and all of these demons and vampires were dark elements, or at least partially dark elements, it would do a lot of damage.

Once the light of her Holy had enveloped the room and run off the attack forces, however, she had a chance to look around. Lolliette was on her way out already with Halldor on her heels, and Crow was exhausted, likely from throwing a light blast at the now very much dead vampire on the ground. She herself was tired from setting off that large of a spell.

And Carly was doing her best to stanch the blood that was even now dripping from Jack's neck.

Valkyria knew there was no way Jack would survive. Not human, at least. She sighed, understanding that this was what the Council had sent her to do. She walked over to Carly and placed a hand on her back.

"Bite him," she said simply. Carly turned to her in anger.

"I'll kill him!" she yelled. Valkyria shook her head.

"I can't save him if you don't," she replied. Carly looked between the Aegyl and her beloved cautiously, before leaning down and kissing Jack's forehead.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, before removing her hand from his neck and biting down where the vampire had. Valkyria closed her eyes as she placed her left hand between Carly's shoulder blades and her right hand on her own chest. A golden-white light surrounded her, and for a moment, Carly's wings seemed larger, with a violet undertone to the black.

Then the light faded, revealing Carly as she was, and Valkyria, wingless despite retaining her Aegyl appearance. The white-haired girl crossed her arms after pointing at Jack's neck, where Carly and Crow could see the muscle and skin already patching itself back together. Carly stared in shock, then looked up at Valkyria.

"Only purebloods can turn a human," the former reporter stated. Valkyria nodded.

"Yes, but only a turned demon can handle the light that comes from an Aegyl turning into a Vaelin. While the process is occurring, it gives the demon a temporary pureblood status, because their darkness flares in order to drive out the excess light," she explained.

Carly looked down at Jack, then looked back up at Valkyria. She repeated the process again before leaping up to embrace the now former Aegyl. Crow smiled slightly before bending forward, stretching his wings out as he did so. He stood and headed over to the window to see what was going on outside.

He gasped at the sight that greeted him in the courtyard below.

Odin lay on the ground, gasping for breath, while Yusei stood over him, an uncharacteristic and sadistic grin on his face. Valkyria and Carly ran over to the window to look as well, and Crow was unsurprised when the white-haired girl opened the window and jumped out, managing to land on her feet despite being several floors up and not having wings anymore.

"Kalin!" Valkyria cried, running over to her older brother. Crow frowned, but he followed her down anyway. Yusei chuckled before starting to walk away, and Crow, feeling his anger flare at him, shot a bolt of lightning at his retreating figure.

The electricity shot into Yusei's body, but it didn't effect him. The vampire turned, and Crow noted the crimson eyes almost sadly. At the same time, he was glad that Yusei was being controlled because otherwise, he would have had a lot to say to his friend for attacking Kalin… if it even was Kalin on the ground.

Yusei raised his right hand, which was uncovered, and Crow realized why his lightning had done nothing to him. A moment later, he was dodging the bolt Yusei had sent in his direction.

"Crow! I need your help!" Valkyria yelled. The Fallen Angel ran over to her, but once she explained what she needed, he stared at her in surprise.

"Yusei shocking him probably caused this, I'm not going to—"

"If you don't, his heart won't beat right and he'll die, Crow!" she yelled. Then, muttering a quick spell word, she put up a shield to protect them from the blast of electricity Yusei had sent their way.

Crow took a deep breath and held his hands about a foot apart before he started muttering. A small electric current started flowing between his fingers. He took a deep breath before quickly placing his hands on either side of Kalin's chest. The current flowed into the Aegyl in one quick blast.

Crow stared at his friend fearfully for a moment before Kalin took two, gasping breaths and finally opened his eyes. The Fallen Angel took a moment to try to relax before placing two fingers at Kalin's neck.

His pulse was strong and steady again, unlike the uneven, fluttering pulse from earlier. Crow let the relief wash over him, before he turned around to see Yusei and Valkyria locked in what appeared to be more of a dance than combat.

While Crow knew that there was no way Yusei could have gotten that good with his lightning in so short an amount of time, he figured that Heylii probably had some experience with it, or something similar, because the vampire would toss a few currents towards Valkyria every minute or so, while dodging every attack she sent at him in the process.

Valkyria, likewise, was dodging Yusei's attacks excellently, and throwing up a shield whenever she couldn't dodge. In the space between, she would throw an assortment of attacks at Yusei, whether they be fire-based, ice-based, or, on occasion, water-based. Never, Crow noted, did she attempt to attack him with lightning. Of course, considering Yusei's ability, he wasn't surprised.

A blue-white blur entered the picture then, knocking Yusei off of his feet for a moment before solidifying into Halldor, whose hands were still glowing with that same, blue-white aura. Yusei scowled, crossing his arms over his chest for a moment before unleashing a shockwave of electrical energy.

Despite Valkyria's best attempts at throwing up a shield, all four of them were hit by it and momentarily paralyzed, which was more than long enough for Yusei to escape.

Moments after he had disappeared, the sounds of battle around the mansion faded completely, leaving the Shadow Guild standing around, tired of both fighting and of having to clean up after the fighting.

* * *

Some time later that day, it was discovered that the attackers had managed to infiltrate the basement. Luna was desperately searching for Leo, while doing her best to avoid looking at the small pile of dead bodies.

She tripped over an arm and looked at the face of the woman she had tripped over, only to stare in shock. Green eyes stared at her, only half there, and the woman's left hand reached for her neck.

"Ky… are you alright?" she asked, knowing the answer was 'no'. The woman grimaced and managed to pull a cord out of her shirt.

"Luna… Your brother… Sora… ngh…" she mumbled. Luna shook her head.

"No, don't waste your energy," she said. Ky smiled sadly.

"I'm not… I'm… giving it… to… you…" she said. Her right hand was on Luna's chest now, while her left was wrapped around the pendant that hung around her neck. "Angelica gratia tua erunt. Fiat lux enelope anima tua. Cognitorem fieri iudicium purificant cuius sermo est. Ut te in æternum petendam pacem," she chanted, slowly and steadily, despite her obvious weakness.

Luna gasped as she felt more than saw light flowing into her. As the flow of magic faded, the last few words of Ky's spell rang in her head, translating in English easily.

'_May you forever seek peace.'_

Ky's hand fell from Luna's chest once the spell was finished. "Take… pendant," the woman managed to say before her eyes slipped closed. Luna bit her lip as she took the pendant in question in her hand. It seemed wrong to take it, but Ky's words and her own body were telling her that it had to be done.

She stood and looked around. She was calm, a lot calmer than she had been earlier. However, she still had a purpose.

At least now, she knew where to start looking for Leo, because sitting on top of a statue was a white cat with electric blue eyes.

* * *

**Kairi: So, I hadn't intended to pop into this story again (yes, Ky is me), but I needed some way to turn Luna into one of the Nephilim (which will be explained more later). Anyway, if someone reading this knows Latin, my apologies, but I used Google Translate for the spell used. So then... please leave a review on your way out...**


	20. Chapter 19, Aftermath

**Chapter 19 - Aftermath**

As Luna wandered around through the maze of tunnels that was considered to be the basement of the mansion, her mind (completely calm, despite everything that had happened) picked out faces one after another.

Trudy, covered in blood but alive despite being human.

Devlin, laying perfectly still but still breathing.

Misty, barely hanging on as she begged Lolliette for something. Luna had a feeling that it involved turning her.

The scenes got worse the closer she got to the stairs leading back up into the manor. Broder was crouched at Kraven's side as the Shifter clutched his left side, trying to stop his insides from falling out while muttering something to the redhead.

Then there were those who were already dead. The image of Ky, laying there as she gave Luna her power and pendant, was burned into the girl's mind.

Off to one side, not far from where Broder and Kraven were, was Dragan, his body twisted until it was horribly disfigured. His eyes had been closed, likely by the redhead who seemed seconds away from bursting out in tears.

As she continued along, she spotted Viktor running off somewhere in a rage, and glancing in the room he had emerged from, she caught sight of Marcus, or rather, his body. He was covered in burns, and almost unrecognizable.

Whimpering caught Luna's attention, and she followed it into one of many rooms. For the first time since Ky's spell, she held a hand over her mouth as the scene finally became too much.

The room was occupied by three werewolves and a human. Luna managed to identify one of the wolves as Breo.

One of the wolves, however, was dead. The larger brown wolf nudged the dead black one twice before he took a step back. Seemingly without warning, he threw his head back and started howling.

Breo joined him in less than a minute, and as Luna slipped around the distressed wolves, she realized why. The mangled, barely identifiable human body was that of Jean.

Luna choked back tears as she left the room. She knew she needed to find Leo, but after all this…

Except, she knew he was alive. She just had no clue where to…

"Oof!" "Mrow!"

Luna looked up to see what had tripped her. She had guessed from the yowl that it had been one of the werecats in cat form, but…

Golden eyes shone out at her from blue-gray fur as she looked down at her feet.

* * *

**Two days later…**

Akiza sighed as she sat down on the couch and looked around. This particular room had been her personal project for the last couple of days as she tried to think about anything other than what Yusei could be doing now.

"Hey…"

Akiza looked up, unsurprised to see Halldor walking over. The room she had picked was one of the lounges, of course, and as they sat there, more people filtered in. The coffee table in the center ended up holding a good number of large plastic cups. Twenty people, or rather, fifteen people, a cat, and four wolves, ended up occupying the lounge.

*Why do we always seem to pick full moons to have these little gatherings?* Lucian grumbled from a corner. Not one of them was human.

Well, technically Kanan was three-fourths human, but they couldn't count her.

"At this point, no one really cares," Jack grumbled from his perch (yes, perch) on the back of one of the couches. Carly sat on the couch next to him, with Broder and Crow both trying to sit on that couch as well. "Alright, either one of you moves yourself or I'll move the both of you," he growled at them. Broder looked thoughtful before his features blurred and his body seemed to shrink up.

As a fluffy tail and red fur became obvious, the trickster tumbled off of the couch. *That was… Not exactly what I wanted to do…* he thought to them, shaking out his fox body and jumping up into Crow's lap. The Fallen Angel looked slightly startled.

"Wait, since when have you been a Shifter?" he asked. Broder curled up and ignored him.

"Kraven must have passed his power onto him as he was dying, just as Ky did for me," Luna said, her voice oddly soothing to the others. The blue-gray cat in her lap perked its ears up.

*Ky? Wait, that girl that was donating blood? But I thought only the humans were allowed to donate blood,* Leo's voice rang in their heads. Luna just shrugged, but Lucian sighed.

*Ky was one of the two Nephilim we had with us at the original castle. The other is still at Castle Silas right now,* Lucian explained. Crow, Kalin, Odin, and Kiara got understanding looks on their faces, confusing everyone else.

"What's a Nephilim?"

Luna sighed. "Yanagi, why did you even come?" she asked. The old man shrugged.

"I felt like it," he replied. "Besides, Tanner went missing a week before my memories cut off, so I figure I might as well stick with you guys."

Kalin crossed his arms. "Isn't Bolt Tanner a demon-werelion half breed?" he asked. Yanagi nodded and Kalin gave Odin a look. "Talk about a scary combination…"

"Hey, didn't I ask about Nephilim earlier?" Yanagi interjected.

Kiara sighed. "Nephilim are, physically, completely human. Except that they have almost all of the powers of an Angel. Dark Nephilim are, quite literally, Fallen Angels without wings. Their blood is still Angel blood," she explained. "But there are more Angels, Fallen Angels, and Aegyl on this planet than there are Nephilim and Dark Nephilim."

"Hey, where are Devlin and Trudy? I heard someone say they were turning, but I was never told what into," Lolliette wondered from atop a statue. Akiza shrugged. Luna sighed though.

"Devlin's a vampire, Trudy's a werewolf. Which is a really strange combination when you take classic literature into the count," she said.

A light chuckle from a statue on the opposite side of the room from Lolliette got their attention. "Actually, a thousand years ago, vampires and werewolves falling in love was common. The Alpha of a pack would be mated to the leader of a coven," Lillith told them. "Any human that saw would be lead to believe that the vampires were controlling the wolves. Human literature was what tore that apart, mostly."

"Fascinating story. But that still doesn't explain how she ended up a vampire," Jack grumbled, pointing to Misty, who sat on a couch between Kalin and Odin.

"Oh, her? I turned her," Lolliette said in an off-handed, almost-cheery way. Akiza gave her a look.

"How can you be that cheerful when your mate's been brainwashed?!" she demanded. Lolliette tilted her head to the side before shrugging it off and humming a tune to herself.

Lillith sighed and gave Lucian a look.

"Lolly is Lolly," they chorused, though Lucian's was telepathic.

Crow exchanged a meaningful look with the fox in his lap. "And that's supposed to mean what, exactly?" he asked. Lillith chuckled.

"Exactly that. Lolly is Lolly," she replied. He gave her a dry look and she sighed. "You'll understand if you stay around her long enough…"

Halldor was looking at Akiza oddly though. "What's got you so worked up?" he asked. She pulled her knees to her chest and looked away from him, and Lolliette groaned.

"She matured and probably almost killed someone with her ability," she said. Akiza closed her eyes.

"Close enough," she grumbled. Kiara sighed.

"Yeah, I understand that one. I nearly killed Cameron once when we were playing in the forest and my Fae powers went out of control," she said. Everyone gave her an odd look, except for Crow and Carly… who both promptly became confused, causing the dark-haired woman to sigh. "I'm from a parallel universe," she told them. "I grew up with Yusei, Jack, and Cameron, who is basically Crow in this dimension, and ended up marrying Jack before I turned twenty. Kanan is our daughter."

"Except Dad died years ago in what was claimed to be an accident. The earthquake that knocked down the bridge originated from the research facility where he, Yusei and Cameron were working… Incidentally, the facility was half destroyed as well," Kanan added. Kiara crossed her arms, expression somewhere between depressed and hateful.

"Yes, your aunt told me that," she grumbled. Kanan gave her an innocent look.

"Which one? Your little sister, your littler sister, or your sister-in-law?" she asked. Kiara gave her daughter a look before frowning. Her expression shifted to one that clearly stated 'you've got to be kidding me' as she started shaking your head.

"Elizabeth followed her through the rift?" she asked. Kanan rocked on her heels.

"Well, at least we won't have to worry about a paradox with her. I mean, there's no Elizabeth in this dimension. Zero Reverse kinda screwed that over," she replied, keeping to an innocent tone of voice.

"Wait, who's Elizabeth?" Jack asked.

Kiara groaned and hit her head against the wall.

* * *

**Kairi: Man, it's good to be back!**

**Lillith: Really now? And here I thought you were going to stay away for another few months.**

**Kairi: Shut up. Anyway… I couldn't help but laugh at that last line, even knowing what's coming. It's pretty obvious who Elizabeth is, so I shouldn't have to tell you, but Kiara's got to explain sometime anyway.**

**Kiara: This is kinda random, but guess what? Kairi's actually got the epilogue written up already. Even though she's only got ghosts of ideas as to what's going to happen between this point and that.**

**Kairi: Actually, I've got a pretty firm idea. I just don't know how long it's gonna take me to get it all out of my head. Though, it's looking like we've only got about ten chapters left of this. I'm up to… uh… Chapter 25. But I've got it all planned out, and I'm halfway through 26.**

**Lillith: Amazing… -holds a piece of paper up- And this is…?**

**Kairi: Oh, that's a picture I drew of you! …Okay, so it could have been better… But oh well. Anyway, there's a link to that in my profile, if anyone feels like looking. It's under the label of 'Lillith Nigiro (Vampires 2 – Neo Domino)'. And there's also one of Corylle, but I think that one has a couple of spoilers in the description...  
**

**Kiara: Okay, one? Time to shut up now. Two…**

**Kairi: -sighs- Alright, alright. I'll see you guys next week. Please review…**


	21. Chapter 20, Intervention

**Kairi: Aww... not even a 'Welcome back, how have you been?' Or 'Where the (censored word) have you been for three and a half months?' Seriously? I'm kinda sad now... And I lost my inspration to write this story... Although, seeing as how I'm up to Chapter 27 finished and have the epilogue written out on paper and the two chapters between summarized, it shouldn't be a problem for a short while yet... And besides, my Hope Flies readers will be happy! I'm bringing them another chapter soon! (Like, as soon as I post this...)**

**Lillith: Anyway, it's good to be back... We don't own anything... But, all OC's belong either to Kairi or one of her friends.**

**Kairi: And a few reviews might prompt me to update early next week. Like, on Sunday instead of Tuesday... (hint, hint)**

* * *

**Chapter 20 - Intervention**

"Hey, isn't that Zero?"

"Ugh. Why the hell did you have to follow me again?"

"Because I slipped past your guard when I changed weapons."

"It was a rhetorical question, Corylle."

"So?"

"If you're attempting stealth, you're failing."

"Shut up, Zero."

"How about all three of you shut up?" Phoebus grumbled as he pushed past a rather large bush. Corylle, Angel, and Zero glared at him.

"And you are here, why?" Angel growled, though the question was aimed more toward Zero than Phoebus. Angel's doppelganger shrugged.

"Gathering data for Number 44," he replied. Phoebus crossed his arms.

"Zale's only on 43, isn't she?" he asked. Zero smirked.

"New one," he said simply. Angel groaned, then looked back out toward the street. A scream, definitely feminine, pierced the night before being silenced only moments after starting. The silver-haired teens took off running for the noise, with Corylle and Phoebus on their tails.

"You know, it's not often that Angel and Zero cooperate," Corylle said quietly to Phoebus as they turned a corner. The man's straw-colored hair flew behind him as he ran. A sigh escaped his lips as they turned a second corner.

"At times like these, I'm almost glad," he said, pointing. A dark-haired man's mouth was against a woman's neck, and all four of them could see the blood dripping down.

"Hey, let her go!" Angel yelled. The vampire turned blood-red eyes on them before throwing the woman to the ground, where she laid lifeless. His black hair was streaked through with gold, and his eyes seemed to be almost glowing.

Despite having just fed and the fact that his hair didn't have the normal silvery sheen to it, his eyes didn't shift from their crimson shade into another.

"Who are you?" he asked cautiously. Zero smirked and ran, toward the man and past him, running out of the alley and leaving the group to their own devices.

"Sheesh, what was that about?" Angel grumbled. The vampire waved his hand toward them with a smirk before running off himself.

Angel and Phoebus collapsed as if they had fainted. Corylle collapsed, but lay there gasping as she tried to get feeling back into her extremities. She looked over at her companions, wondering why they had collapsed as they had.

The question of what had just happened ran through her mind as well as she began to fall asleep.

"Hey, you okay?"

Corylle opened her eyes and frowned. The woman in front of her had magenta hair and brown eyes, a combination that reminded her of her sister, Zale.

"Yeah. Who are you?" she replied, slowly sitting up and looking around.

"I'm Akiza. I found you and your companions last night… I was… trying to find a friend…" she explained. Corylle nodded once, taking the information in.

"Black hair with gold highlights, red eyes?" she asked. Akiza's expression became dark.

"His eyes should be blue… he's been… brainwashed, so to speak," she replied. Corylle sighed.

"That explains a lot. Where are Angel and Phoebus? And where are we?" she wondered. Akiza motioned for Corylle to follow her, so the girl did so. They headed down a hallway and entered another room. There were two beds within. On one rested Angel, on the other, Phoebus.

Both were still seemingly unconscious.

"They seem to be some kind of android or something," Akiza told her. "We had no idea how to turn them back on, if it was even that easy."

Corylle frowned and moved over to Phoebus, lifting his head and pushing his hair to one side before pulling the back of his collar down slightly. A dark brown 04 was 'tattooed' on his lower neck, and the crimson-pink-haired girl nodded before setting his head down again and moving over to Angel to do the same.

No such marking existed on his neck, which caused Corylle to frown. "That's odd… Either Angel isn't one of Zale's androids… or she made him before she started numbering them…" she muttered.

Akiza frowned. "Zale?" she asked. Corylle sighed.

"My twin sister. She's created 44 androids and is on her 45th. Or 46th, if Angel really is one of hers. I'll have to call her up to reboot them. Her, or Fourteen," she answered. Then she turned to the woman in the doorway. "Do you know what happened?" she asked. Akiza sighed.

"Sora thinks that Yusei used a shockwave in an attempt to paralyze the three of you before escaping. Except…" she trailed off. Corylle nodded.

"Yeah, a shockwave would short their circuits. They're both first gen," she replied. Akiza decided that asking would not help her cause. "Do you have a phone or something?" Corylle asked a minute later. Akiza nodded.

"Yeah. I'll be back in a moment," she replied, running off. A few minutes later, she returned, a shiny iPhone in her hand. "Here. It's Rosalie's," she said before rolling her eyes. "Why did I tell you that? You don't have any clue who she is…"

Corylle chuckled. "That's fine. I don't have any clue what my sister is talking about half the time so I figure you're doing pretty good. You haven't lost me yet, at least," she told Akiza, taking the phone and dialing. A moment later, the phone on the other end picked up.

"_Zale Moryl, can I help you?"_

Corylle smiled. "Well, not me, but you can come reboot Angel and Phoebus," she replied. A groan echoed on the other end before Zale hung up.

Akiza took the phone back as Corylle offered it to her and ran it back to Rosalie. She was back in a moment and looking at the girl confusedly.

"Zale put a tracking device in my brain somewhere. She'll use it to find us. It shouldn't have been shorted out, since it's the same tech that's in the sixth gen androids," Corylle explained.

"Actually, I don't even really need it. Kairi showed up right before you called and decided to rope us in on the lovely little mess that Neo Domino City just got caught up in," a rather similar voice to Corylle's grumbled. Akiza turned to see a girl with very short, spiky crimson-pink hair and amber eyes. She walked right past the vampire and headed to Angel's side.

"I offered to give her a lift," Kairi added, leaning against the doorway. Akiza sighed.

"I think I'm going to go check up on Jack and the others. They were arguing over something earlier," she said. Corylle gave Kairi a look after she left.

"Where's mom?" she asked. Kairi shrugged.

"Hell if I know. I haven't seen her since… Well, long enough ago that I can't give you a date," she replied. Zale chuckled.

"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me. Hey, how's Aunt Kiara?" she said. Kairi rolled her eyes and 'ported out, reappearing a moment later.

"Ask her yourself in a moment when she and Kanan get up here," she answered. Zale just smiled.

"Miyoku and Linare?" she asked. Kairi sighed.

"Miyoku is with her father, and Linare is helping Whisper, who is helping Kisa, who is helping Alice, who is currently stalking someone for their head," she replied. Corylle's face went pale and Kairi smirked. "Relax, not you."

Corylle shivered.

Zale laughed.

And then Angel woke up.

"Okay, what's so funny? What'd I miss?" he grumbled, sitting up slowly as Zale started rebooting Phoebus. Kairi chuckled.

"Alice is after heads," she said simply. Corylle glared at her, while Angel looked between them before cracking a smile.

"Okay, that is funny," he agreed. A sigh from behind Kairi got his attention.

"Not really, but then, you're mean, so that's beside the point," Kanan grumbled, walking into the room, then smiling at Corylle. "Hey, cuz."

Corylle smiled. "Hey, trouble."

Kanan just chuckled, while Kiara rolled her eyes.

"You got that one right," she muttered. Then she smiled. "It's good to see you two again," she added. Zale shrugged, tapping her tablet before standing and walking off.

"I'm just gonna look around a bit before I poof," she said in way of explanation. Kairi and Kiara exchanged a glance before shrugging.

"Almost as bad as Lolly, huh?" Kanan asked.

Kairi shook her head. "No. Worse."

* * *

"Well, well. If it isn't the most reasonable of my siblings," Heylii said with a smile. A true smile, for once, rather than her normal sneer. Yusei turned to get a look at the new arrival, and raised an eyebrow.

"What's the matter, cutie?" the young woman asked, her white hair mostly held in a ponytail while an icy blue streaked through it. Emerald green eyes were set in a familiar face.

Heylii chuckled. "He's… met both of your sisters, dear," she replied. The girl sighed dejectedly.

"Aww… And here I was thinking I'd turned another head. Now I'm little depressed," she said. Then, sighing, she turned back to Yusei. "You talk, cutie?"

"Only if I have to," he told her, his glare telling her that he wasn't enjoying her hitting on him. The girl giggled and skipped toward Heylii taking her arm in hers as she slowed to something that could be considered a walk once more.

"So, how do you like the hair? It was red and white a while back, but then I realized Kairi's was gold and red, so I changed it," she asked. Heylii rolled her eyes.

"Before we go any further, what on earth have you been smoking?" she inquired, laughing the whole way through it. Her little sister started laughing, cackling almost.

"Nothing _from_ Earth, I can assure you," she replied. Heylii shook her head as she started laughing along.

"Ah… Kitsuna. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually missed you," she told her.

Kitsuna smirked. "Missed you too, sis."


	22. Chapter 21, Paradox

**Chapter 21 - Paradox**

"Come on. Let's all just… go out for a walk or something. We all need to wind down a little, and neither of you is helping with that," Carly suggested. Jack sighed. He and Kiara had been arguing like an old married couple (which, technically they were, as Leo had reminded them a dozen or so times), and Kanan and Carly had just been trying to stay out of the way.

"I'll have to agree with Carly on this one," Jack muttered.

"Da—Jack's right," Kanan said. She hadn't been helping matters between Jack and Kiara, as she had, on multiple occasions, slipped up and called him 'Dad'.

Carly smiled at the girl. Sure, she looked an awful lot like Jack, and yes, she was part of the problem, but she was also very good at changing the subject. Or keeping it going.

"Hey, is everything alright down here?" Akiza asked, walking into the room. Carly smiled.

"We're going on a walk," she informed her. "I'd invite you to come with, but…" she trailed off. Akiza smiled.

"That's fine. Corylle wanted to train with all of the vampires born in the last year. She's pretty fast, and she figured we haven't had a lot of time to really train to fight, and with Heylii out there…" she said. Kiara nodded.

"She's half-Fae, so she'll be able to work with the abilities of the matured vampires as well," she replied. "Although I'm still trying to figure out what the hell her father was that her Fae blood is partially suppressed…"

Akiza frowned, and Kanan sighed. "Fae blood usually will completely override human blood somewhere between the ages of ten and twenty-five. Corylle and Zale are… what, twenty-eight?" she asked her mom. Kiara shook her head.

"Twenty-nine as of last month. Of course, they grew up in a dimension where time passed more quickly, so if we go by Earth's calendar and time flow, they're two years younger than you," she replied. Kanan shrugged.

"Whatever. The point is, their father wasn't human," she grumbled.

Akiza rolled her eyes and walked away.

Carly just sighed. "Come on, let's go," she prompted them. One by one, they left the room, then the mansion. The sun was out, and fluffy cumulus clouds floated past lazily. Every once in a while, they spotted a ripple of the air, like a mirage, and Kiara smiled, figuring that Crow, or perhaps Kalin or Odin, had decided that it was a fine day to do a little flying.

Kanan noticed it too, and giggled. "He's such a kid sometimes," she said quietly to Kiara. Her mother just smiled and pulled her daughter close.

Likewise, Jack had an arm wrapped around Carly. He was wearing his white coat for the first time in what felt like ages. He had taken it off and replaced it with something a bit more appropriate before they had left for the original castle in the valley in Europe, and hadn't even seen it until a few weeks ago, when Crow had decided he wanted to go back to their old house again.

It hadn't been touched, and the two had grabbed a few things and brought them back to the mansion, his coat among them.

The four of them had made it to one of the numerous parks before the trouble started. A scream rang out on a street nearby, and a few more as people ran away from it. The scent of a demon reached them, and all four took off.

They arrived only to see a woman in black crouched over a now-dead man. A hood covered her face, and she smirked before running off. Kiara followed her, Kanan on her heels and Carly and Jack behind her.

Jack was just starting to find it odd that the woman wasn't flying off when she ran into a dark warehouse, and he sighed. "Why? Why is it always dark warehouses in the abandoned part of town?" he grumbled. Carly's face was grim as well. She had seen Kiara charge in right after the demon woman, the terrified look on her face. Whatever was going on, Kiara was scared, and that in turn frightened her.

Jack, Kanan, and Carly stepped into the warehouse to see, Kiara standing in the middle, looking around frantically. She panicked when she saw Carly.

"No! Carly, get out of here! Jack, get her out of—"

"Oh, give it a rest already," a familiar voice groaned. A figure stepped out of the darkness, revealing itself to be the demon woman. She lowered her hood…

Jack, Carly, and Kanan gasped.

"I won't let you hurt her," Kiara stated, though her voice was a bit shaky. The older Carly laughed.

"Oh I'm not going to hurt her. I'm just going to kill her," she replied. Kanan put herself between the two Carlys, causing the older one to laugh. "And you're just as stupid as your mother."

Kanan smirked. "Nah, not stupid. Just stubborn. And I'm pretty sure I got that from my dad, thanks," she replied.

Carly hissed and launched herself past Kiara at Kanan, only to be knocked out of the air by a white-gold flash. She glared at Kiara, who held a crystalline bow in her hand. A white-gold glow formed into a second arrow as she took aim at the demon woman.

"Not my girl, bitch," she hissed, her eyes flashing violet. Carly just laughed, this time running for Kiara. Jack was about to help, but Kanan held him back.

"No, stay close to Carly and protect her. She's from our dimension, we'll worry about her," she told him. Then she ran forward to help her mother, two short white-gold swords appearing in her hands as she did so.

Shadows started forming around the older Carly's hands as a longsword and a shortsword appeared. As she and Kanan started into a sword fight, Kiara stayed back, shooting at Carly whenever she had an open shot.

Then Carly sacrificed her shortsword to blast Kanan away from her using the darkness. Kiara ran between them to keep the demon from hurting her daughter. Carly cackled and pushed her back, causing her to stumble, before slashing at her stomach. Kiara used her bow to partially deflect the attack, but Carly still managed to slash through her leg.

Kanan growled and charged in at her as her mother fell to the floor.

"Kiara, over here!" the younger Carly yelled. There was a dark, blue-green glow around her hands, and Kiara smiled as she started crawling over. She didn't dare take her hand off of the wound, it was bleeding bad enough as it was.

Kanan, meanwhile, was busy ducking and dodging around Carly's attacks. The demon woman could keep her at a long enough length that Kanan was just out of range while still able to be hit by her. Cursing her diminutive strength, she slipped under Carly's blade again, only for the demon to strike her in the back with the pommel, throwing her to the ground once again as she cried out.

Carly turned to bury her sword in the girl's heart, only to be shoved away by a white blur. She glared at Jack as Kanan started to stand. "Why?!" she screamed, not giving him a chance to answer before she launched herself at the two blondes, her body cloaked in darkness.

Kanan pulled Jack away, but Carly clipped his side anyway, and he screamed. The teen cursed under her breath, not only because she hadn't gotten Jack out of the line of fire fast enough, but because Carly was now headed for Kiara and her younger counterpart, who was still healing the former.

Kiara pushed the younger Carly down and launched herself at the elder in an attempt to keep her from hurting the woman behind her. The darkness enveloped them both as they tumbled across the ground, away from both the younger Carly and Jack and Kanan.

While the ball of shadows writhed, Carly ran across the open space to begin healing Jack. As he was a demon, she was able to heal him faster, but it wasn't quite fast enough, as the darkness dissipated to reveal Kiara lying bloody on the floor with the older Carly standing over her, a smirk firmly set in place.

Kanan screamed in pain and anger, running at Carly as her body began glowing a strong, steady violet. Her body seemed to elongate, and her hair became a more vibrant shade of yellow.

She tossed a ball of the violet aura around her at Carly, and the woman dodged, only to find Kanan throwing a punch at her face.

"Well, well. Aren't we faster now?" Carly taunted, jumping away and throwing a blast of darkness at Kanan that just splattered away from the violet aura around her. Carly hissed and covered her hands in darkness before charging at Kanan once again. The teen tossed two more energy balls as Carly, but each one slowed her down.

Enough so that Carly was able to get behind her. Kanan turned, but she was a little too late as Carly wrapped her darkness-covered hand around the girl's neck. The darkness continued to strangle her even as Carly walked away, heading for her younger counterpart.

Just as it seemed Carly would bury her longsword in her other's heart, a young woman stepped between them, taking the blow in her abdomen.

Three screams rang out at once, each for a different reason.

One scream was that of a gold and copper-haired woman who was thirsty for the blood of the demon who had tried to kill her sister and niece. The second was the scream of the demon as her sword ran through her heart.

The third was the voice of Kiara, healed by Odin just as Kairi killed Carly.

"_Elizabeth!"_

* * *

**Kairi: So, this chapter was late. It was due back on... erm... Tuesday. And the next one is due Monday. (Don't worry, it'll be up on time.) Though I'd also like to mention that I am very disappointed in you all. This is the third chapter I've posted that I haven't gotten a single review for... and to think, we're getting near the end now too. :(**

**Lillith: Whine, whine, whine. Why don't you go do something productive. Like finish chapters 28 & 29 so you can say that you're done?**

**Kairi: You got a plot bunny for that?**

**Lillith: -frowns-**

**Kairi: Didn't think so. Okay, be back Monday. Please review...**


	23. Chapter 22, Sister

**Kairi: Let it be known that I am kinda depressed regarding this story now. For a couple of reasons...**

* * *

**Chapter 22 - Sister**

_Three screams rang out at once, each for a different reason._

_One scream was that of a gold and copper-haired woman who was thirsty for the blood of the demon who had tried to kill her sister and niece. The second was the scream of the demon as her sword ran through her heart._

_The third was the voice of Kiara, healed by Odin just as Kairi killed Carly._

"Elizabeth!"

* * *

Carly's screams gurgled out as her body started to dissolve, turning into nothing more than shadows and dust. Kairi drew away from where she had been standing, letting Kiara past to catch Elizabeth as she fell. The young woman's brown hair was tied up in a ponytail, while blonde bangs fell messily over violet eyes.

"Hey… sis…" she muttered. Kiara would have screamed at Odin if he hadn't been preoccupied with reviving Kanan. Elizabeth coughed twice before turning her head to look at Jack and Carly. "Hey…"

Carly turned to look at her as she finished healing Jack, and the blonde looked at her in shock for a moment before clenching his jaw as he realized who he was looking at.

"Carly… Take care of him. He may not be my big brother here, but he would have been. Family's gotta look out for family… And Jack's all I've got left…" Elizabeth said to the black-haired woman. She nodded as Jack wrapped an arm around her.

Kiara held Elizabeth as tightly as she dared. "You've still got me and Kanan," she reminded her. Elizabeth chuckled.

"Do I?" she asked, looking up at Kiara. The woman's green eyes continually flashed between violet and green as tears started to fall.

"Of course," Kiara replied. Elizabeth just smiled and closed her eyes, resting her head against Kiara's arm.

As Odin and Kanan, who was back to normal, walked over, the brunette's chest stopped moving, and her heart failed to beat any longer.

Kanan knelt by her mother's side as Kiara rocked back and forth, Elizabeth's body cradled in her arms. No one spoke for a long time.

"We should take her back," Kanan whispered finally. Kiara nodded wiping the tears from her cheeks as she carefully stood, Elizabeth in her arms still. No words were needed as Kiara turned to Kairi, who held out her left hand. A gold and white swirling portal opened up, and Kiara turned to look at her daughter. Kanan put a hand on her mother's arm before walking past, toward and then into the portal.

Kiara followed her through with Elizabeth.

Kairi closed the portal silently before hugging herself. Jack looked between her and Carly before standing and offering a hand to the black-haired woman. Carly smiled sadly and took it, being lifted to her feet.

"This is the second time I've had to watch a sister die. Well, sister-in-law," Kairi said. She sighed. "The second time it's been Heylii's fault, too."

Odin crossed his arms. "It'll take her a while to get back," he stated. Kairi nodded.

"I know. And I'm going to let her have all the time she needs. I can't seem to find Kitsuna, but I'll call on Xikira if I have to. Or even Mirage," she told him in reply. Then she looked over at Jack and Carly. "Come on. I'm sure the others are going to get worried soon," she prompted.

Jack nodded, taking his coat off and letting his wings free as Carly did the same. The white coat was ruined from blood anyway.

Similarly, Odin dropped the illusion hiding his wings, while Kairi's body began to glow a golden color. Her eyes shifted to that same gold as she glowed, and then began to leave the ground. "Come on." She flew up through the broken windows of the warehouse, the other three on her heels. Odin had cast a Mirage spell over himself and the two demons, knowing that Kairi's Fae magic would cancel out anything he tried to use on her.

They landed in front of the mansion only a few minutes later, picking up a fourth mirage on their way down. Kairi stopped glowing, while the four (well, two technically) Mirage spells were dropped.

Sure enough, it had been Crow flying around earlier. "What happened? Didn't you two leave with Kiara and Kanan?" he asked Jack and Carly. Kairi sighed.

"Jack's sister in the other dimension showed up and… Well… We don't have two Carlys running around anymore, but we've also lost Elizabeth," she said, sorrow tainting her words. Crow deflated.

"I'm sorry."

Kairi shook her head. "Don't apologize. You couldn't have done anything," she told him. Crow sighed, and Odin crossed his arms.

"Come on. Let's go check on Akiza and them," he suggested. Kairi nodded, heading in. She knew where Corylle had planned on training, so she headed down to the part of the basement that hadn't been repaired yet.

She arrived just in time to watch Corylle send Halldor flying.

"You're getting distracted," the woman sang. The silver-haired man scowled, flipping off of his back and onto his feet. He ran at her again, becoming little more than a blur. Corylle had a shield on her right arm, a sword in her left. She brought the shield up as a silver-blue energy ball flew at her.

The next she knew, Halldor was behind her, a silvery knife in hand as he slashed at her exposed back. Corylle moved away just in time to have it tear through her arm, rather than her back. Well, seemingly tear through her arm. The wound glowed silver-black before it disappeared and she swung her sword at Halldor, who held his arms up in a silver-blue wrapped 'X'.

Corylle smirked. "Better."

Kairi crossed her arms as she walked over to Akiza, who was sitting on the side, sipping on a cup of blood. "Did I miss something?" she asked, sitting down next to her. Akiza smirked around the straw.

"Apparently Corylle is half-vampire… unless it's possible for vampires to imprint on non-vampires," she replied. Kairi chuckled.

"That makes sense," she said as Corylle called another newborn up. Halldor walked over to sit with them and take a break.

"Jack and the girls back yet?" he asked. Kairi's expression became dark.

"Jack and Carly are upstairs. Kiara and Kanan took Elizabeth back to their dimension," she said simply, her tone implying that she didn't want to talk about it. Halldor sighed.

"It'll be a while before they're back then, won't it?" he asked. Neither woman answered.

"So… You two figured out what your abilities are?" Kairi asked, obviously trying to change the subject. Akiza nodded.

"Yeah. Plant control… Well, Corylle says it's chlorophyll-based, but since it works best with plants…" she replied. Kairi nodded.

"One of my sisters has an ability similar to that. I'd call her in to help, but last I checked, she was chasing her boyfriend's daughters through a dimension she'd never been to before," she said. Akiza cracked a smile at the mental image of two young girls running away from a young woman.

Kairi gave Halldor a look, and he sighed. "Corylle had absolutely no idea what to do with my ability at first, so Zale kinda took over for a bit. She said it was some kind of aura projection, but that she'd have to look up some stuff to figure out more," he replied. Kairi smiled and stood.

"Come over here and hit me with your best shot, then. See if I can identify it," she challenged. Halldor sighed and stood, brushing imaginary dust off of his pants. In the next moment, he was charging at Kairi, the silver-blue aura surrounding his body. He flung an energy ball at her, only to have her duck around it and land a strike on his side.

"Go on, Halldor, kick her ass!" Corylle cheered. Kairi tossed a golden energy ball of her own at the crimson-pink haired girl. "Hey!"

"I'm you aunt, dear. I can pick on you if I want," she said, laughing as she ducked around Halldor again. The silver-haired man threw another energy ball at Kairi before running ahead of her and throwing a punch. Kairi blocked the energy ball, but only partially defended against the physical attack and was sent flying against the wall.

Kairi grinned at the confused look on Halldor's face before standing and holding her hands up in a peace gesture.

"Corylle, your sister was wrong," she stated. Corylle rolled her eyes.

"What else is new?" the girl grumbled, tossing her curly hair back over her shoulder.

Kairi had turned back to Halldor, likely planning on telling him what his ability really was, when a small cloud of gold dust caught everyone's attention. Kairi was on edge, whereas the others were confused. Kiara couldn't be back already, could she?

The figure that emerged from the dust was not Kiara. While her facial features and green eyes were identical to those of Kairi and Kiara both, her hair was white, and riddled with blue streaks. It was bound on top of her head and fell past her waist, longer than even Kairi's nearly-waist-length hair.

The gold and copper-haired woman sighed, brushing her bangs out of her face as she looked into an identical one.

"Hello, Kitsuna."

* * *

**Kairi: If ya'll want me to actually finish this (considering how close we are) I suggest reviewing. Plot bunnies don't like being around me when I'm depressed...**


	24. Chapter 23, Warning

**Kairi: So, again, I have to apologize for being late. Unfortunately, I was very focused on school this last week and had no plot bunnies whatsoever, so I kinda forgot about my stories. Thankfully, managed to find a few plot bunnies this last weekend, and while none of them were for this story (or even this fandom, sadly) one of them was being very rude and pushed me to open up my Updates Excel workbook, and I saw that I had three chapters due/overdue. So, here's the first of two chapters for V2.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 23 - Warning**

_The figure that emerged from the dust was not Kiara. While her facial features and green eyes were identical to those of Kairi and Kiara both, her hair was white, and riddled with blue streaks. It was bound on top of her head and fell past her waist, longer than even Kairi's nearly-waist-length hair._

_The gold and copper-haired woman sighed, brushing her bangs out of her face as she looked into an identical one._

"_Hello, Kitsuna."_

* * *

Kitsuna smirked. "Hey there, sis. You been staying out of trouble?" she asked. Kairi didn't move out of her defensive stance.

"You've been dabbling a bit too much in the darkness, Kitsii. How you thought I wouldn't feel Heylii's on you, I don't know," she said cautiously. Kitsuna sighed.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Kai. I've allied myself with Heylii for now, but it doesn't mean a single thing, because I've got I score to settle with her myself for killing my husband," she stated. Amber flickered in her emerald eyes, much like violet would in Kiara's.

Kairi took two steps forward and held a hand out for her sister to take. Kitsuna smiled, taking her hand and pulling her forward to embrace her.

"Thunderstruck by cobalt, torn apart by shadow," the white-haired woman whispered to her sister. As they pulled part, she added, "Trials of the mind in thine own refuge." Then she turned to look at Corylle. "I'm sorry, both to you and your sister."

Kairi's expression was confused as Kitsuna was enveloped once more in the golden dust, but it shifted to concern the moment her sister was gone.

"Aunt Kairi?"

Kairi turned to look at her niece and sighed. "Basically, she's just warned us that Heylii is attacking us sometime soon, probably before the night is out," she translated. Corylle's expression became dark.

"I'll go warn Zale. The androids are all over the city. If she can get all of them back here, not only will we have the extra manpower, but we'll also be able to spread the word to everyone quickly so that she won't catch us off-guard again," she decided before taking off. Halldor was never very far from her side.

Kairi nodded and looked at Akiza. "Care to continue training?" she asked. Akiza simply charged right at her. The blonde laughed and back flipped twice, then a third time as an energy blast landed where she had just been.

She looked over expecting to see Halldor, but she had to grin when it was Crow instead. He had already crouched, drawing shapes as he muttered to himself, while Akiza attacked her directly.

When a set of fireballs exploded right next to her, Kairi rolled past Akiza, running for Crow, who simply smirked as she passed right through him. She chuckled and motioned for the other three newborns to get out of the way, which they gladly did, before she let out a shockwave.

The ripple through the air showed one spot where the air refused to move, and that was where Kairi tossed a small energy ball of her own, forcing Crow to jump out of the way, but destroying his illusion as he did so.

Kairi had almost forgotten about Akiza though, and the magenta-haired woman managed to get her arms around the woman, hugging her as if to crush her ribs.

Another small shockwave sent Akiza flying, and Kairi sighed. "Oh, come on. You two realize I'm going easy on you, right?" she grumbled as Crow sent another set of fireballs her way. She raised one hand toward him, and another toward Akiza.

The Fallen Angel had been kneeling when she did so, but his vampire friend had been in mid-step, running toward Kairi with an admirable tenacity, if not notable strength. Only a millisecond after Kairi had raised her hands, both had frozen in place.

"What the—?!" Crow managed to spit out. Kairi's eyes were a cold emerald, not their normal warm green, and for a moment, he honestly was scared of her.

Then he and Akiza were released, the latter falling to the floor in a clumsy, undignified heap. Kairi stood and crossed her arms.

"And that's me not even bothering to try," she said, her voice cold. "Heylii manipulates shadows as I control space, and she's had a lot longer to work with her ability than I have. Every one of the dark supernatural creatures on her side will be twice as strong, twice as fast, and ten times as deadly as they normally would be, especially those like Yusei, whose abilities can easily paralyze or disorient you."

Crow looked up at her in absolute shock, while Akiza seemed to be in pain. The others, like Crow, were astounded at how quickly her attitude had changed.

Then she sighed, the cold exterior melting away again as she closed her eyes. For the first time, Crow could pick out small details here and there, in her face, her posture, that revealed how old she really was. Certainly, she looked like she was still in her early twenties, much like her sisters, but there were clues. The thinner face, where her jaw seemed more pronounced than it should be. The odd silvery hairs that laced through the gold and copper, barely noticeable. The wrinkles at the corners of her mouth and eyes. And that almost gray tint to her skin.

He looked over at Akiza, who seemed to have noticed the same thing, while Kairi shook her head.

"Come on. Let's go again. And this time, try to resist whatever I throw at you. It'll be mostly shockwaves, what I was doing before, but I'll see if I can channel some electricity through from somewhere without turning the lights off, because unlike vampires, Fae and Fallen Angels don't see too great in the dark," she said, a bit of her usual smirk coming back as she finished. Crow smiled and started tracing something in the air, not bothering to even touch the ground this time.

Akiza ran at Kairi again, while the other three vampires filed out of the room, deciding that they'd rather get out of the way.

The duo was still doing rather poorly when Kalin, Jack, and Carly walked in. Kairi and Kalin exchanged a look before the Aegyl kicked Carly in the middle of her back, sending her flying forward into the room. Jack responded with a punch aimed for Kalin's face only to find it miss as he ran past the blonde Guardian.

Kairi summoned her twin katana, which, like her sister's bow and her niece's weapons, were white and gold.

"Well lookie here. You two got some help, finally," she teased. Crow threw a spell her way, this one being thunder-based. Kairi smirked and a gold-emerald sphere formed, trapping every ounce of electricity that had gone into the attack. "I believe we've already established that electric-based attacks don't work well?"

Kairi sent the pent-up electricity out at the four facing her, paralyzing Jack and Crow immediately and disorienting Carly.

Akiza, to her credit, shook it off and managed to land a kick on the distracted Guardian. Kairi just grinned, slashing at her with a katana before spinning to kick the magenta-haired vampire.

"Wow. You're all doing very well," a voice laced through with sarcasm grumbled. Crow glared at the newcomer as he brushed silver hair out of his face.

"I don't see you helping," he shot back, dodging an energy blast as Kalin sent it his way. Crimson eyes glinted in amusement.

"Ask nicely, I'll consider it," he replied. Crow just growled, while Kalin chuckled.

"You know, you two are acting like a Fallen Angel and a… well, an Angel… Too proud to be able to get along, but too similar to just walk away," he muttered. Angel rolled his eyes.

"Says the half-Angel," he grumbled. "I don't see how you can stand him." Kalin just smiled.

"I'm sure it helps that I grew up with him," he replied. Then he hissed as an energy ball hit him square in the back. He turned, but frowned and looked back past where Jack, Akiza, and Carly were taking turns trying to keep Kairi's attention. Sure enough, Crow was still there.

So how…?

Crow shot off another blast, this time at Kairi, and Kalin smiled as he watched it do a loop in midair after having missed Kairi by yards, only to barely miss as she ducked to avoid Jack punching her in the face.

Kalin was about to join back in when Halldor came running into the room, looking frantic. A single glance at him and a slightly more powerful than normal shockwave was all it took for Kairi to free herself from the attacking trio and get the room's attention.

Halldor was breathing heavily and his eyes were starting to glint red, but Kairi's grave expression told him all he needed to know, because his panic had already told her the message he had come to deliver.

"_Heylii and her army are here."_

* * *

**Kairi: Big, huge thank you to SunstoneTiger11 for being kind enough to my tortured soul to review! And a quick apology for not putting this up on Sunday... (Next chapter due Saturday, and I will get it up as scheduled this time!) Anyways, please, please review, and I'll be back... Oh shit... You guys realize that all hell is about to break loose, right? Suffice to say, I know a couple of you aren't going to like it. Oh, and then we finally get to the end of this insanity. (Yes, the end is shortly upon us. Sadly.) Okay, now, I'm going to go write, and hopefully, a few of you will go review. (hint, hint)  
**


	25. Chapter 24, Battle Part I

**Chapter 24 – Battle, Part I**

_('I'll Make a Man Out of You' started playing just as I started to write this chapter… What a fitting song…)_

It came as no surprise to Jack that Yusei stood near Heylii, on her right. Lillith, who stood nearby, looked torn at the sight of the three girls to Heylii's left, while Corylle and Zale both glared at Kitsuna, to Yusei's right. Heylii's army consisted of at least thirty vampires, another thirty (or more) demons, and at least two dozen werewolves. The odd other Were, Shifter, or Sprite stood around among the mess.

Thanks to Zale, their own forces consisted of over forty androids, along with three dozen oddball species, most of the dark variety, some of the light, like Kalin, who stood by what Jack had been told was his entire family. And then there was Kairi.

Not counting Kairi and Heylii, the two sides were pitted against each other at about ten to eight, with Heylii's group having the better odds.

Especially since her army had the added bonus of her shadows making them stronger. Jack knew, just as everyone else on his side knew, that this was going to be a long, bloody battle, and that man people were going to die.

"And here I thought we'd agreed not to bring the kids into this kind of a mess," the eldest of Kalin's younger siblings muttered, brushing dark blue hair out of his face. It was obvious to Jack that the blue hair the majority of the siblings had came from their mother's side, as their father had paper-white hair, much like his daughter, Valkyria, and the youngest of the boys, Matthias.

Danté brushed white hair out of his face and looked concernedly at his youngest son, who looked up at him and smiled. Danté did little but nod before looking back over at Heylii's army.

The baby of the family, little Aerith, smiled. "At least we have a fighting chance," she said. Kalin and Odin exchanged a look, the meaning of which Jack could easily translate.

'_But how much of one?'_

"We'll see, Aerith. But if I tell you to leave, you leave, got it?" Reighn said. Aerith nodded, and Kalin sighed. Odin placed a hand on his shoulder as voices started to ring out.

"You never were very good at surrendering, were you, Kairi?" Heylii yelled across the large yard. Kairi sighed.

"I don't want to do this again, Heylii," she called back. "This doesn't need to end the way it did on Haden."

Heylii threw her head back and laughed. "Oh how I wish it would. I didn't consider you a threat then, but you've learned a bit since I destroyed our home world, haven't you? A shame, really," she taunted. "I had so much fun before." Kairi closed her eyes for a moment before opening them.

"Your move," she said quietly. Really, they didn't need to yell, but they did, because they could, because it was expected. Everyone here had supernatural hearing. They could hear just fine.

Heylii grinned evilly, and before most of them realized what was going on, her entire group, herself included, were charging forward.

The next thing Jack consciously registered was the fact that he and Carly had ganged up on Yusei. All around him, people were fighting. Lucian, Andre, and Armand led three groups of werewolves against the packs Heylii had brought, while Esmé danced around attacks and slashed at whatever came too close with a curved blade, having finally shown her true colors as an elf, rather than a Fae.

A mildly unsettling shock to his arm got Jack's attention back on the fight with Yusei as the raven-haired vampire shot another bolt of electricity at him. Jack dodged around it with a hiss and charged in at him, making good use of his fists as he took out his frustrations on his brainwashed friend.

The sad part, he realized, was that he actually did feel sorry for having to do it.

Meanwhile, Corylle and Zale were fighting with their mother. Or rather, the three of them were pretending to fight. Zale would toss a bit of electricity at her mother as she asked about one thing or another, then Corylle would lift the shield strapped to her right arm just a bit to deflect a weak energy blast sent her way by Kitsuna.

No one seemed to notice.

Well, except for Kairi, but only because she looked over to check on them during her fight with Heylii. She had managed, once again, to knock the black-haired woman on her ass, but she would repeatedly get back up before attacking full force once more.

"What's the matter, brat? Don't you know that looking away from your enemy in battle is rude, not to mention dangerous?" Heylii taunted, fading into the shadows to emerge behind Kairi, only to run into a wall. The older woman hissed and punched the wall, shadows around her hand only helping to shatter it as Kairi jumped back, tossing an energy ball her way before summoning the twin katanas she was used to swinging around.

Heylii just smirked and charged up another mass of darkness to throw at her.

Somewhere on the other side of the field, things were going just about as badly for Lillith, who faced off against the vampire sisters that had joined with Heylii. The thing was, the three of them were only a few hundred years younger than Lillith.

"Jocelyn, please!"

The white-haired of the vampire sisters screamed in frustration. "You tore us apart! Why should we?!" Her brunette sister sighed while running forward and placing her hand on her black-haired sister's back for a moment.

"Deirdre, Arylwren?" Lillith prompted. The black-haired girl just tossed a knife in her direction, but the brunette stayed out of the way, only ever running in to heal one of her sisters.

"Arylwren…" the silver-blonde mumbled, her eyes locked onto the girl who was so adamant about staying out of the way. Jocelyn aimed another shot at her head with the dagger in her left hand, while trying to hit a spot on Lillith's side with the one in her right.

Lillith slipped around her, using Jocelyn's momentum to send her flying just as Deirdre tossed another knife. This one embedded itself in Lillith's arm, and as she pulled it out, she had to stop to stare as blood started to drip down. She ran two finger through the blood and held those fingers up so that she could see more easily.

Her eyes flashed to sky blue and stayed like that as she looked past her fingers at Deirdre, who had just put another knife into her gut. Lillith ignored it, not even bothering to remove the blade as she rushed forward.

Deirdre just didn't quite move quickly enough as Lillith brushed her blood-covered fingers across her arm, which immediately began to feel as if it were freezing and burning all at the same time. It took only a second for Lillith to remove the knife from her stomach as she ran forward again, this time with her entire hand covered in blood.

Jocelyn stood between Lillith and Deirdre, so it came as no surprise that her next 'attack' hit the white-haired sister instead of the black. This time, despite Lillith landing it in the middle of her abdomen, Jocelyn was able to slash at her, opening more cuts on her arms and giving Lillith more blood to strike out with.

Only a little ways off, Lolliette watched the scene out of the corner of her eye with concern. "If she's not careful, she's going to kill herself doing that. I don't care if she is the oldest vampire alive, I will knock some sense into her head myself if I…" she said before disappearing into the shadows. She re-emerged from them behind the vampire and kicked him away from her. "Where was I? Oh yeah. I'll knock some sense into her head myself if I have to."

Halldor just laughed. "You really get spacey when you go through shadows like that," he observed. Lolliette managed to lightly smack him as she decided to use him to get in to the air, in an attempt to bring down a demon that had been circling.

She managed to hang on to the edge of his wing, successfully dragging down the earth, even if the landing was rough on the both of them. Halldor ran over and handed Lolliette a sword he'd picked up off of one of the attacking vampires. She took it gladly and stabbed the demon through the heart, then slashed his head off.

"Better safe than sorry," she muttered as Halldor gave her a look. He rolled his eyes and sent off a series of energy blasts.

Lolliette slashed at two more vampires before groaning and holding the sword out toward Halldor. "You want this?"

He shook his head, letting silver-wrapped hands punch the vampire that was currently trying to tear him apart. Lolliette shrugged and tossed the sword to the side. He didn't need it, she didn't need it…

As she forcefully ripped the head off of the second vampire, she took a moment to look around and sighed.

This was going to be a long battle.

* * *

**Kairi: So, yeah. Thanks a lot to SunstoneTiger11 for reviewing and helping to keep me motivated. Anyways, I'm out. Don't forget to review!**


	26. Chapter 25, Battle Part II

**Chapter 25 – Battle, Part II**

Jack had just been thrown to the ground again when he spotted the small figure in the white dress and sun hat. Sora's black hair flew out behind her as she engaged Yusei herself. Carly managed to heal Jack before he was running over to help the little werecat.

Sora jumped around Yusei for the most part. It was obvious that her only intention was getting him knocked out so she could remove Heylii's influence from him. But with Yusei zapping them every chance he had, none of them were able to land a good hit. Jack growled and flipped back up on to his feet, running two steps and taking off into the air.

Yusei had been expecting Jack to come back at him on the ground, as he had every other time, so it came as a surprise to him when he was roughly knocked to the ground upon being used as a landing pad by Jack. Carly stood off to the side.

"I hadn't though of doing that," she muttered.

Just as it looked like Sora would get a chance to free Yusei, he hissed and discharged an electric pulse, paralyzing Sora and causing Jack to stumble. Carly, who had been just far enough away to only get the edges of it, wasn't affected in the least, and charged at Yusei in an attempt to knock him down again as he turned to attack Jack.

Despite all of her attempts, however, Yusei simply continued to push Carly off. Jack, upon recovering, started attacking with renewed ferocity, but while it was obvious that the battle was wearing on him, Yusei seemed to be at full strength still.

And then Carly spotted it.

"Jack, his hair's starting to turn silver!" she called. Jack's face was fully set into a frown already, as he had noticed it too.

"Damn it! If we don't free him quick, he'll keep fighting, and with the sun still up…" Sora cursed. Jack sighed, trying again to get behind Yusei and strike him. Once more, he failed, and this time, Yusei managed to get a hold on Sora, twisting her neck. All three of them heard the snap as he released her and turned to look at Jack and Carly.

Jack let loose another battle cry as he went in to punch Yusei in the face again.

Meanwhile…

"Ugh. Can we just… I don't know, leave now?" Kitsuna groaned. Her daughters laughed. They had given up on pretending to fight and were now sitting on top of a wall, watching the battle. Corylle had wanted to go help fight once Zale and Kitsuna had decided it was social time, but her mother wouldn't hear of it.

Corylle hissed. "I'm staying right here," she grumbled. Zale sighed.

"Yeah, your fault for picking a vampire for a mate," she told her mother. Kitsuna looked over toward the younger of the twins, and wasn't too surprised to see that her eyes were locked onto someone. Emerald eyes attempted to follow stormy gray-green, and Kitsuna figured that she'd picked out three options. And considering that of the three, only one was a vampire, she'd have to assume that it was the silver-haired man with the gold eyes.

Even as she watched, a teen girl with black hair and violet eyes, likely a vampire herself, used his shoulders as a lift to jump up and grab the wing of a circling demon, bringing it down.

"Who's the girl with him?" she asked. Zale looked up from the piece of circuitry she had been messing with.

"Huh? Oh, that's Lolly," she said off-handedly. Kitsuna gave her a look she didn't notice, before looking up at Corylle. The younger smiled.

"Lolliette helped him through the change after the woman that turned him, Talia, died, and she and her friends were allowed to return to the Shadow Guild. She's mated to Yusei," she said. Kitsuna nodded.

"And who is Yusei?" she wondered. Then she rolled her eyes. "Wait, don't answer that. Heylii used blood magic on him, right? I met him. I wasn't totally sane at that point, having just come from that one place on Kelys where I'm not supposed to go, but I met him. Flirted with him, actually."

Corylle raised an eyebrow. "Red poppies?" she asked. Kitsuna frowned.

"Have you been watching the Wizard of Oz?" she shot back. Corylle just laughed in response.

"Are you three just going to sit up there or are you going to help?"

The trio looked down in mild shock at the woman on the ground in front of them.

"Oh I'd love to, but apparently I'm grounded," Corylle replied. "I thought…"

"Miyoku's here somewhere. Kanan and I came back to find her before she gets herself killed," Kiara said. Without another word, she turned and headed into the battle. She vaguely noted golden dust enveloping the trio before they disappeared.

Kiara sighed. "Figures. Kitsuna never did like to stick around long…" Then she spotted her sister being thrown away from Heylii. Kairi's body had been glowing gold-green, but even as Heylii approached, it started flickering, and Kiara growled, running straight for her older sister without a second thought and sending her flying.

A violet-red aura surrounded Kiara, whose eyes settled with the right being emerald and left violet, while a crimson mark lit up on her right arm. Heylii stared in shock.

"No… Impossible!" the Shadow Guardian yelled. Kiara held her arm out toward her, the right half of the Crimson Dragon's wings very clearly glowing with her aura. Dark, demonic wings formed out of her Fae aura as the left half of the mark formed. Heylii shook her head. "No… You would have had to build a link through the Jack in this dimension to access the Crimson Dragon's power like you used to," Heylii said, standing. "I know you too well, Kiara. You wanted to let Carly have him here."

Kiara smirked and rushed forward, almost eight times faster than she used to. A dark aura enveloped Heylii before Kiara struck, sending her sister flying. The aura cleared to reveal Heylii, glowing a violet-black and with demon wings on her back. Crimson eyes glared out.

"That power is real… but how?" she muttered. Kiara sighed.

* * *

"_Oh good, you two are the same species now," Kiara said as she walked in with her daughter. Jack and Carly looked up at her in confusion, before Carly had to restrain Jack. Kiara pushed Kanan, who took her mother's hint and ran._

_Then Kiara knelt next to them. "Jack… I need you to trust me," she said. Carly looked at her in concern._

"_I can remember everything that happened, Kiara… Heylii said…" she trailed off. Kiara nodded._

"_I know. And I'd never dream of taking him from you, because I know what that feels like. But I've sealed a large mass of my power into the Jack from my dimension, using his mark of the Crimson Dragon. I can access it by routing it through him, but…" she replied, nodding toward Jack. Carly hissed, and Kiara held up a hand._

"_Whoa… Hey, I said I wouldn't take him from you, didn't I?" she said quickly. Carly still didn't look like she trusted her, and Kiara sighed, placing one hand on Carly's shoulder. "Don't let go of him," she ordered. Carly looked between her and Jack in confusion, but did as told. A moment later, Jack's wings mark lit up, along with what Carly thought was a duplicate of it._

_A glance was all it took to reveal that it was only half of it. But, even as they watched, it filled out completely, then faded away, this time reappearing on Carly's arm. The demon woman looked up at Kiara in confusion as she let go of her shoulder._

"_Why…?" she whispered._

_Kiara smiled. "I can't use Jack as a medium because he's got the full mark already. And I had to pull at it from through you so that I wouldn't bind him to me. The problem was, you two were different species before. It could have killed him to do that if he had still been human," she explained. Carly smiled._

"_Kiara… Thank you," she said. But Kiara just shook her head._

"_No. Thank _you_."_

* * *

Kiara took a quick glance around, unsurprised that Lolliette had switched from helping Halldor to helping Lillith, who was rather thoroughly covered in blood. She noted that Corylle had returned as well, and was doing a damn good job of fending off a couple of demons.

She just hoped that things wouldn't turn dark too quickly.

* * *

**Kairi: So, apparently I couldn't be bothered to put this up last week... Oh well. Here's this chapter, and the one that was due today. I find this particular chapter to be rather boring, actually. Next one's interesting... Review please.**


	27. Chapter 26, Battle Part III

**Chapter 26 – Battle, Part III**

Carly cried out in pain as Yusei tossed her to the ground. A girl with orange hair helped her to her feet with a smile. "Need some help?"

Jack managed to kick Yusei away before raising an eyebrow at the girl's appearance. "Are you related to the Kitari triplets?" he asked. The girl laughed, pulling a frying pan out of… er… somewhere…

"Kairi's my mom. I'm Miyoku," she said simply before running around behind Yusei. Jack attacked him head-on, while Miyoku managed to whack the brainwashed vampire upside the head with the frying pan.

Carly crossed her arms as Yusei fell to the ground. "That's a really durable frying pan," she commented. Miyoku just laughed and took off, but Jack knelt at his friend's side worriedly, glancing over at Sora's tiny, limp body.

"She'll be alright. It'll just take her a few hours to regenerate," a woman said as she walked over. She was covered in dark blue and silver armor that made it look as if she had just walked out of the dark ages, while her black hair fell down her back. "I'm Sabrina. Sora is a friend of mine," she said in way of explanation before holding a hand over Yusei's forehead.

Sabrina's eyes glowed blue for a moment before she stood and left. Almost as soon as she had, Yusei started stirring. "Now how come he's waking up so fast and I didn't?" Carly grumbled. Jack smirked.

"Sora's specialty is reading people's minds. She's not very good at actually entering them, though. That's probably what Sabrina's specialty is," he said. Carly sighed.

"Figures," she muttered. Yusei cracked his eyes open, groaning as the light hit his sensitive retinas. Thankfully, his irises were blue once again, and Jack smiled.

"Good to have you back, buddy," he said, standing and holding out a hand to help Yusei to stand. The raven-haired vampire took it and was hoisted to his feet.

"Nice to be back… Wait… since when have you been a demon?" he mumbled. Jack sighed.

"Why don't we kick Heylii's ass out of here and then start in on explanations?" he suggested. Yusei nodded.

"Alright. But I'm not gonna hold out much longer without…" he trailed off. Carly pointed, and Jack smiled. Yusei simply looked in confusion at the little blue-gray werecat as he ran up to them.

Take it, Leo prompted, referring to the bag of blood in his mouth. Yusei knelt, giving him an odd look before shaking his head.

"We're adding that to the list of things to explain," he stated, tearing a small hole in one corner of the blood bag. Jack just laughed and ran off to find someone he could actually tear apart, rather than having to hold back so as to not kill them. Carly simply sighed and took off after him.

Yusei's eyes scanned the field, looking for someone to help. He smiled as he saw Halldor fighting a group of three by himself and dropped the empty bag, running across the field to help him. He was stopped halfway by Kitsuna, however, as she looked around frantically.

"Yusei? Oh good, they got you out from under Heylii…" she said quickly. "Where's Corylle?" she asked even more quickly. Yusei shrugged, simply succeeding in frustrating the white-haired woman.

Kitsuna then took off, running through the groups that were still fighting while she struggled to find her daughter. Zale was running around too, but every once in a while, the spiky-haired girl would get caught up in a battle.

Kitsuna wanted to scream.

"Oh, hi Aunt Kitsii!"

The woman jumped as an orange-haired girl ran past, a frying pan in each hand, smacking pretty much anyone that got in her way. Kitsuna sighed and took off after Miyoku. She figured she might as well get the menace off of the battlefield before she actually got hurt.

Although Miyoku seemed to be doing a rather spectacular job of not getting caught up in anything major, simply banging someone on the head and then running.

Kitsuna growled as she lost the girl in the crowds again before spotting her over by the other girl she was searching for. She grinned and started to make her way through the crowds, only to watch in shock at the red-haired demon Miyoku and Corylle were fighting stabbed a sword through the girl's neck.

Kitsuna heard Kairi's scream before she saw the blonde racing toward her daughter, but she saw Heylii charging up a blast of dark energy before she realized she was already running toward her sister, tackling her and pushing her out of the way just in time to avoid their older sister's attack.

Kitsuna looked down at Kairi, whose eyes kept going between her daughter and Heylii, who was once again preoccupied by Kiara, thoroughly pissed off and at full power.

The white-haired sibling stood and ran for the demons, who were still attacking Corylle, though her help was now in the form of Akiza. Well, so to speak. Akiza and the red-haired demon seemed to be arguing about something before they ended up somewhere a ways away, likely due to some kind of teleportation.

Kitsuna had just moved Miyoku's body when she turned back to the fight her daughter was in. The other demon was one she recognized. Ryden, was his name? If she remembered correctly, he had tried to kill Yusei, resulting in Lillith finding and turning him.

She stood, only for her legs to fail her again.

Ryden cackled evilly as he held Corylle's head by her long, curly hair, while her body slumped to the ground.

Kitsuna sat there in shock while Halldor roared from the other side of the battlefield. She contemplated killing Ryden herself, but understood all too well the pain of losing a mate. Ryden dropped Corylle's head somewhere a ways from her body, only for it to be collected by Kitsuna as she picked it and the body up and drug them over to where Miyoku lay. She glanced over toward Halldor, noting that he was abandoning Yusei to fend off his opponents on his own.

She sighed, dropping through a rift in space to land next to the vampire, kicking a werewolf as it came too close. "I figured you'd want some help," she said. Yusei didn't reply for a while.

"Aren't you going to try and kill him too?" he asked. Kitsuna shook her head.

"No. Corylle… she… she was too much like me. Too reckless, too blood-thirsty. She lived for battle… And… Halldor deserves this one. After all… I want Heylii's head for taking Zach's," she told him. "Though… I imagine you'd want him dead too, huh?"

Yusei laughed, a grim, scathing sound that almost didn't quite sound right. "He's the reason I'm a vampire, so… yeah. I've been twenty-one for three years now, and I'm seriously not looking forward to the next three… or three hundred, for that matter," he said bitterly. Kitsuna sighed.

"At least you've got Lolliette," she replied.

Yusei smiled slightly and looked over at his mate, only to freeze in shock and horror, wishing that Kitsuna hadn't said anything as Jocelyn's fangs cut into and through Lolliette's neck, tearing her head from her body before Deirdre grabbed the head her sister tossed her and threw it…

…right onto a bonfire of dead bodies that had accumulated in the last hour and been lit so very recently.

Kitsuna's heart wrenched in two again as Yusei's breath caught in his throat.

The next thing she knew, the werewolf that had been about to attack him was thrown to the ground, ribs crushed, while Yusei ran toward Lillith, who was being held down by Jocelyn and Arylwren as Deirdre approached, intending to send her the same way as Lolliette.

Yusei froze and tore his gloves off, sparks dancing around his fingers as he swung them around, as if to clap them in front of him.

A massive shockwave hit about half of the battlefield, paralyzing almost everyone within its range.

Yusei Fudo may have only been a vampire for three years, and he may have had an extremely docile personality, but one thing was obvious to everyone within range.

His mate was dead, and he was pissed.

The only thing that came close to scaring him was the look on Lillith's face when she wrestled her way free of the elder two sisters. Yusei wanted blood, but the expression she wore told him that he'd have to settle for just blood and not lives.

Yusei wanted at least one of them dead.

Lillith wasn't going to let him kill any one of them.

And Kitsuna was scared to death that Lillith would send Yusei to join his mate.

* * *

**Kairi: -peeks out from behind a large shield- Yup. That all just happened... And now I need to go finish 28 and 29. And type the Epilogue. And then possibly get to work on a sequel, one a little more Yu-Gi-Oh oriented than Vampires series oriented... Oh well. Comments are nice...**


	28. Chapter 27, Vengeance

**Kairi: Apologies for this being so very late, my laptop was being stupid. Anyway, read and review please!**

* * *

**Chapter 27 - Vengeance**

_Yusei wanted at least one of them dead._

_Lillith wasn't going to let him kill any one of them._

_And Kitsuna was scared to death that Lillith would send Yusei to join his mate._

* * *

"Get out of the way, Lillith."

"I won't let you kill them. Not when I was so close to getting them to see reason," the older vampire stated.

Yusei's glare was crimson.

Lillith wasn't sure whether to be glad that the sun was low enough so as to not hurt him, or to be annoyed that it had set so fast, leaving Yusei more room to move around.

Her own gaze was still sky blue.

"Listen, Yusei. There are only four vampires older than two centuries, and my daughters and I are it," she tried reasoning with him. Her eyes faded back to their usual light gold. "Yusei…"

Yusei looked past her to the sisters, who were just managing to stand, before closing his eyes. A moment later, he opened them and ran at Jocelyn. Lillith shifted, ready to stop him in any second…

A strong blow to the back of the head and a strong zap to go with it knocked her out completely. Repeat performances to Deirdre and Arylwren had them collapsed in a heap with their sister as Yusei stopped next to them, tears dripping down his cheek.

Lillith walked over and wrapped her arms around him gently, only to be pushed away as he walked over to the bonfire. For a moment, Lillith was scared to death that he would jump in, but when he sat near the edge, wrapping his arms around his knees, she simply smiled sadly and looked around.

Halldor was tearing through anyone that got in his way. Most of the people on their side were smart enough to remove themselves from his path, but the few that weren't were torn to pieces as well.

Lillith sighed. It wasn't worth stopping him. Ryden had killed not only Corylle, but thousands of the vampires she had turned. She wondered about where his crew was absently as she started racing around, looking for anyone else she had turned. Only Rosalie was in the immediate vicinity, other than Yusei.

Then she spotted them. She guessed they had shown up to see what all the noise was about, but a battle involving vampires and demons was no place for a couple of humans.

They were from the Public Maintenance Bureau, that much was obvious. The woman was already waking up, but judging from the scent on her and the bag of stones around her neck, either Luna, Crow, or Danté had already gotten to her. Probably Luna, as Lillith could see the girl a ways off. She also knew that Nephilim needed a little while to recharge, especially after Gifting, and that if she didn't turn the Immortal's partner, he'd die.

She sighed and bit into her wrist, opening his mouth slightly to let the blood drip into it.

"What the hell?!"

Lillith looked up at the woman and smiled. "Sorry. But it'll be a bit before Luna can Gift again and Crow and Danté are on the far side of the battle field. And I have this thing about not letting people die. You could ask Yusei about that one," she said, chipper tone doing very little to reveal exactly how stressed she was.

The woman looked around her at the chaos.

"Um… I'm not sure how much help I'll be, but… would you like some help?" she asked. "Since you seem to be on the same side as our friends…" she added. Lillith shrugged.

"Why don't you just worry about figuring out what each of those stones does, okay? Oh, and don't let the sunlight hit him," she replied, pointing to her companion before running off. Lillith was looking over the battle field again when Halldor reached Ryden.

"Aw, what's the matter? Did I kill your girlfriend?" the black-haired demon taunted. Halldor hissed, shooting off an energy blast before catching him on the wing as he tried to get into the air. The two came back to the ground…

Right over one of the bonfires.

Lillith took off running at speeds no one else (that was conscious, at least) could hope to match, sending a dozen or so people flying outward as she broke the sound barrier. And just as it seemed that Halldor and Ryden would both fall into the fire, Lillith jumped, grabbing the silver-haired vampire and letting the demon fall.

As the two vampires landed, Lillith looked back, noting with curiosity and a sinking feeling how Ryden's appearance had shifted right before hitting the fire. It was too late to check for sure now, as the body was already burning.

Across the field, Yusei was running to save someone as well.

"You can't kill me, Akiza!"

"Maybe she can't, but I sure as hell can and will, Sayer!" Yusei yelled, slamming the demon away from Akiza.

Sayer would have laughed, but Yusei was on top of him, running a high-powered electric current through him before he could. As the vampire drew away, Sayer's body twitched twice before becoming still. Yusei turned to look at Akiza, who walked past him to throw the demon onto the nearest fire.

Then she took Yusei's arm and started to drag him back inside. It was no wonder why. His eyes were blood red, his black hair hidden by silver, and his skin was much paler than normal.

Meanwhile…

"Idiots, the both of you," Heylii said, dancing around Kiara's attacks. Even with the power boost from Carly and her Jack, Kiara could barely keep up with Heylii. Still, she knew she had to help Kairi… If the blonde would just get her butt over to where she was fighting to stay alive.

"Maybe so, but I owe it to Jack to avenge Carly and his sister," Kiara shot back. Heylii threw her head back and laughed.

"Kairi killed Carly, and Carly killed Elizabeth. So how am I to blame?" she taunted. One of Kiara's arrows narrowly missed her head.

"You turned Carly. You started it all. That's how you're to blame," the younger replied. Heylii grinned, managing to get behind Kiara and catch her in a choke hold.

"You want to know something else? Your dear Jack's death was my fault too. I was the cause of Zero Reverse in your dimension, even if it happen a few decades after it was supposed to…" Heylii whispered, intending to snap Kiara's neck as she finished.

"You killed dad!?"

Heylii hissed in pain as one of Kanan's short swords slashed through her back, causing her to release Kiara as well. The black and violet-haired woman turned and blasted Heylii away from her.

"We have to hold on until Kairi gets over here, Kanan," Kiara said. Her daughter rolled her eyes.

"Naw, really? I thought we were just gonna sit around the garden drinking tea," she shot back sarcastically.

Kiara just laughed. Her daughter reminded her of Jack so much, sometimes. Even their dueling styles, back when Jack had still been dueling, were so similar.

A serene smile fell onto Kiara's face as she realized something. She had been so afraid that she had lost Jack forever, but her daughter was showing her something even now, as Kanan and Heylii shot insults back and forth at each other. Jack… _Her_ Jack… He _was_ still alive. Perhaps not in body, but in their memories, yes.

And also in their daughter.

A roar rang over the battlefield and everyone, including Heylii, looked up. Red Dragon Archfiend had materialized over them, but something was off, and Kiara spotted it immediately, reaching into a back pocket and pulling out a card in a plastic case.

There was a scar across the chest of the dragon, because the card in the case was horribly bent.

Lets finish this together, she heard. Kiara smiled, and so did Kanan, who quickly got out of the way. Heylii scowled, dark aura becoming stronger, while Kairi joined Kiara for a moment. Flashes of gold joined the violet and crimson in the aura surrounding Kiara, and she chuckled.

"Thanks, sis," she said quietly before running forward. Red Dragon Archfiend's fire engulfed the part of the battlefield where Kiara and Heylii were fighting, and while it didn't affect Kiara in the least, it tore away bits and pieces of Heylii's dark aura.

"This is not over!" Heylii screamed in anger and frustration.

Kiara smiled, her violet highlights suddenly blonde.

"You're wrong, Heylii. This is over," she replied. Raising her right hand, the arm that had Jack's mark of the Crimson Dragon on it, she gathered as much energy from her aura as she could, making sure to include all of the gold, and blasted it at Heylii just as the fires from Jack's dragon dissipated.

When everything cleared, Heylii was gone, and Red Dragon Archfiend was fading.

* * *

**Kairi: So, that's it. Heylii is 'gone' (from Neo Domino, at least) and there are a lot of people dead. Wonderful, right? Yeah, well... On to the next chapter.**


	29. Chapter 28, Ceasefire

**Kairi: If the section with Lee, Crow, and Kairi is confusing, it's because this is part of a series that's not all that Yu-Gi-Oh oriented. (V1 is original Yu-Gi-Oh, V2 is Yu-Gi-Oh 5d's (obviously), V3 is Tales of the Abyss, V4 is Kingdom Hearts, V5 is Final Fantasy XII, V6 is Fullmetal Alchemist... (And I don't think Heylii is done YET)) Sorry, didn't mean to ramble. Here's Chapter 28!**

* * *

**Chapter 28 - Ceasefire**

Silence reigned over the battlefield as everyone stopped fighting. Heylii's forces were disoriented, while the men and women who had been fighting against her were relieved. All around Kiara, people started to look around, just now noticing the destruction they had wrought.

About half of the 'army' that had followed Heylii was dead. Of those remaining, most were confused, having been controlled, either by blood or through the darkness. A dozen or so demons flew off before the magic-casters in the group could shot them down, and Kiara was too tired to bother with her bow.

Kairi patted her sister on the shoulder before her calm mask finally broke, letting tears fall quickly and quietly. The blonde ran over to her younger sister, where Zale and Halldor were doing their best to comfort each other. Kitsuna's head was buried in her knees, but it was obvious that she was sobbing.

Rosalie and her friends started rounding up the people who had been with Heylii. It didn't take them long to separate enemy from friend, and Esmé immediately started running around, Lara on her heels, to heal as many as she could. Bela, likewise was running about, though she stopped repeatedly to cry and glance over at one of the fires.

"Kalin…"

The half-Angel turned to look at Odin, who sighed and shook his head. The younger twin grabbed his brother's arm, dragging him over to Valkyria. Laid out in front of her were Reighn and Aerith. Kalin clenched his jaw as Matthias limped over, Danté leaning on the boy as much as the boy was leaning on him.

Lillith walked around, gazing at all of the death and blood, as if in shock. She herself was covered in blood, but she didn't seem to notice it.

"She never did care how much damage she did."

Crow jumped and looked over his shoulder. The woman standing there bore herself like a warrior. A red trench coat covered far more than the sleeveless, midriff-baring denim top and denim shorts she wore. Short brown hair faded to black tips, hiding one of her violet eyes, save for one braid that hung in front of her left shoulder, which was a bright red.

Black biker boots completed her outfit as she sat down next to the Fallen Angel.

"Who, Heylii?" he asked. The woman nodded.

"My sister. Well, my older sister," she replied. Crow looked at her cautiously, and she smiled almost sadly.

"It's a big, complex family. Most of us are related by blood in some way. Heylii's my older half sister, the triplets my younger half-sisters. They aren't actually related to Heylii by blood, but they were born before she left, so they see her as a sister. Or at least, they did. Before Heylii lost it," she told him. Then she looked over at him.

"You realize I don't have a clue what the heck you're talking about, right?" Crow said. The woman nodded, and Crow sighed. "So why are you still talking?"

"Because. You remind me of one of my daughters. She left with Heylii the last time I saw her. And besides… I figure, you can tell Kai I was here, without me having to do it myself," she said.

"Little late for that, don't you think?" Kairi asked. She sat next to the woman and bit her lip, while the woman sighed.

"I'm sorry about Miyoku," she said. Kairi nodded.

"And… I'm sorry. About Axel, about your daughters… and… about what I said before…" she told her. The woman held a finger up to Kairi's lips.

"Don't apologize about that. You had every reason to be angry with me," she said. Crow stood quietly and left, not wanting to get between the two.

Kairi just sighed. "Thanks, Lee. I… I missed you," she said. Lee wrapped an arm around her sister's shoulders and held her close.

"I know. And, for what it's worth… I'll follow you anywhere," she told her. Kairi smiled.

"Thanks. It's about time we start rebuilding the Guardians, huh?" she replied. Lee smiled.

"Yup. You, me, your sisters… if you can drag them in on it, that is…"

"Our brothers?"

"…Might want to leave them out of it…"

Kairi just laughed.

* * *

It was a large, relatively quiet gathering. They meant to mourn, not only for those dead among their own, but also those dead among their enemies. And amongst those in mourning was a large group, standing in a circle, arms around each other.

Lillith and her 'daughters' stood together, Jocelyn looking ashamed, Deirdre guilty, and Arylwren sorrowful. The elder vampire herself seemed as if in shock, her face almost expressionless as she held Jocelyn on one side and Yusei on the other.

Yusei, in turn, had his jaw clenched, while tears slipped down his face. Similarly, Halldor couldn't seemed to look at anything but his feet as his left hand rubbed the raven-haired man's back. Kiara supported him to the right.

Next to her, Trudge and Mina stood with Leo and Luna between them. Akiza's hand held Mina's, and Misty was quietly rubbing Andre's arm next to her. Next to Andre was Broder, and Crow, and then Devlin and Trudy. Kalin stood next to Arylwren, with Jack and Carly between him and Trudy.

"Why?"

Yusei's head shot up, looking toward Devlin. The man's eyes were downcast, and for the first time, Yusei could have sworn he looked older than twenty-six.

Kiara sighed. "It's not her fault. She was just trying to save Uro," she muttered, though it sounded like she was trying to convince herself of that more than him. Devlin barked out a laugh.

"This is the second time I've watched her tear apart the fabric of my life, Kiara. I don't especially care right now," he shot back. She just closed her eyes.

It was Kalin's turn to sigh as he noticed the people around them starting to walk off. Yusei frowned. "Okay, what's that supposed to mean?" he prompted warily. Kalin bit his lip, and as the crowds started to part, the group caught sight of Danté, Odin, Valkyria, and Matthias standing a ways off.

"Go." All eyes turned to Kiara. "Rose will take care of them," she added. Kalin examined the ground quietly.

"They're your family, Kalin. I think you've spent long enough without them," Trudy added. The blue-haired Aegyl nodded.

"I know," he replied, looking up. "I'm just not sure I'm ready to leave. I've… never actually been off-world."

Crow chuckled. "That's right, we're not exactly bound to this world, are we?" he joked. Lillith smiled.

"You should probably go talk to Princess Elyon, on Aegyria. If I'd known about Devlin I'd have sent him, but…" she trailed off. "At any rate, it may be worth your while."

Kalin snorted. "Crow? In front of the Council? I'm not sure if I'd want to take a camera or just flee," he said. Lillith gave him a look that clearly said she wasn't as amused as he was. Meanwhile, Kiara smiled.

"Well, if a visit to Elyon is in order, then I suppose I could consider volunteering as a guide, since Crow wouldn't have a clue where he was going at all…" she said, pretending to look thoughtful. Kalin rolled his eyes.

"You just want to go make your little sister's ex-boyfriend uncomfortable again," he muttered. Kiara grinned.

"Yup. Now, you'd best be off before Matthias tries to develop laser vision," she replied. Kalin looked over at his family and smile.

"Right. Thanks, Kiara," he replied, breaking away from the circle and running over to them. Devlin smiled, then looked over at Trudy.

"Hey… You wanna walk to the old graveyard with me? Find a few old friends?" he asked quietly. She nodded, and the two walked away. Likewise, Lillith and her daughters slipped away without a word. Kiara and Crow exchanged a look before the two of them moved away as well. Trudge and Mina, feeling out of place, dismissed themselves to move off to one side.

Yusei raised an eyebrow and looked around. "Sheesh… Well, that's one way to cut a group in half…" he muttered. For the first time in days, Halldor cracked the slightest of smiles, but it didn't last. Broder smiled sadly himself. If a comment like that had gotten Halldor's humor to pull through again, it was a good sign. He would recover.

And, after all they had been through, that was a good thing. Sure, it would be a slow process, and no, the scars would never really fade…

But they would recover.

* * *

**Kairi: So, Chapter 29 is the last actual chapter, and then there's the Epilogue. I'm working on... well, kind of a sequel to this. Have I mentioned it already? It'll be more Yu-Gi-Oh based again, thankfully, now that Heylii's gone. She's not coming back, so the only people who have any reason to are Kiara and Kanan... and Zale and her androids, but that's beside the point. Anyway, please review. Since Chapter 29 is due tomorrow, I'll be posting it tomorrow... Unless I forget again... (Try not to let me forget, people!)**


	30. Chapter 29, Departure

**Chapter 29 - Departure**

_Three months after Heylii's attack…_

Kalin waved behind him as the youngest of his brothers—indeed, now the youngest living member of the family—pulled him along out of the gate. His sister just laughed at Matthias' antics, and Yusei couldn't help but smile at the scene as they left.

He then sighed and hugged himself. It seemed that everyone was leaving, either today, or tomorrow. He knew he shouldn't be complaining, he was among those planning to leave tomorrow, but it seemed so… final. As if he'd never see them again.

Luna, Leo, Trudge, and Mina had already left, one large group that would travel from town to town, posing as a family there for a year before moving on to a new town. He knew that most of the Immortals that lived on Earth did just that, and it didn't surprise him that Mina had been open to the idea, nor that Luna had readily agreed. And of course, where Luna went, Leo went.

No, Trudge had been the surprise joiner in that group. Even with his feelings for Mina, Yusei knew that he wasn't that comfortable around blood yet. He'd probably be hiding out in the attic whenever necessary until he felt more confident about not killing someone.

"Hey. Waiting for someone?" Kiara asked, walking up to him. He smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes.

"Just watching people leave," he replied. She nodded and adjusted the bag she had slung around her torso.

"It's hard," she stated. Yusei frowned and looked over at her, and she took a deep breath. "Kitsuna left when she was twelve, Kairi at sixteen… then Carly moved away as soon as high school was out… And Elizabeth two years later, running off and doing her thing. Yusei's son… in the other dimension, obviously… He was off to college at age sixteen," she rambled. Yusei wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"It's hard enough when they just up and leave, but… I think it's harder to know and be waiting for them to go for so long," he said. Kiara nodded.

"Yeah. But at least you have the knowledge that, so long as you stay out of trouble, if anyone comes back, you'll be here for them," she replied, pulling away gently. "And that's something I didn't have before."

"Why not?"

Kiara looked over at Crow and smiled sadly.

"I wasn't willing to let go of Jack. If he was going to grow old and die, then… Well, I would too. Even after his death," she told him. Then she smiled. "I didn't stop repressing my Fae powers until after Kairi drug me over here. And… I don't think I'm going to start again, either. I've got everything I need."

Crow nodded slowly, then looked at Yusei and sighed. "Stay out of trouble," the ginger grumbled. Yusei laughed, a light barely sparking in his eye, but there nonetheless.

"Me? Trouble? I'm pretty sure that's _your_ forte," he replied. Kiara grinned.

"Causing trouble might be his, but attracting it is yours," she joked, taking a few steps back. "Coming, Crow?" she called, turning around. The Fallen Angel smirked and wrapped an arm around Yusei for a moment.

"See you when I get back," he promised. Yusei smiled.

"If you can find me," he said. Crow laughed.

"Challenge accepted, Yus'!" he yelled over his shoulder as he started running. A dark golden glow shown on his back before black wings unfurled, sending him into the air, a violet glow beside him.

Once the two were out of sight, Yusei's smile disappeared, leaving him to sigh and turn back toward the still-open door. The raven-haired vampire only stared at the open doorway for a few minutes before walking back into the mansion. What had once been two proud statues of angels were now a statue that was missing an arm and a wing (or most of one, at least) and a pile of rubble that had been swept to the side to be cleaned up later.

Yusei examined the still-standing if deformed statue for a few moments before doing exactly as he had seen Lolliette do on multiple occasions, jumping up and perching (at first) rather precariously upon the statue's head.

As Akiza, Misty, Andre, Broder, and Armand walked into the entrance hall, they almost missed the sight of the vampire comfortably doing exactly as Lolliette had a tendency to do—sitting on a statue, examining some detail or another of the stone it had been carved out of.

It was Broder who had pointed it out, and Misty and Akiza had smiled as Yusei turned to them to wave.

"Felt like a different perspective?" Andre teased. Yusei chuckled.

"I was bored," he replied. Then he sighed. "The estates up in Canada, right? That's where you're headed?" he asked. Akiza nodded.

"It's not too late if you want to come with us," she said. Yusei smiled and shook his head.

"Nah. I'll be sure to visit though," he told her. Broder grinned.

"You better. It'll be boring otherwise," the redhead joked. Yusei chuckled and flicked a finger at him, eliciting a yelp as the small electric current hit him. Andre and Misty laughed, while Akiza and Armand tried (and failed, in both cases) to look scolding toward Yusei.

As the other four walked out though, Armand paused. "Yusei… If you ever wanted to learn more… There's a house out in the woods, central Illinois. Not far from Auburn. It's… well…" he trailed off. Yusei nodded, closing his eyes.

"Thanks," he said simply. Armand smiled sadly and followed the others, leaving Yusei to his own devices.

The vampire sighed as the sky grew dark, heading up to his room. No, sleep wasn't entirely necessary for him, but… well, it was a habit he didn't think he'd be slipping out of. Not easily, at least. Three years as a vampire, and he still held on to some of his human habits.

He frowned as a thought crossed his mind, and he jumped down off the statue, heading out into the sprawling city. He knew where he was going, and didn't bother to hesitate as he ran through the streets of what was once Satellite.

There was still a large part of that area that hadn't been touched, and as Yusei reached the old Momentum reactor, he smiled slightly in anticipation, jumping down rather than taking the stairs. He landed on a platform a good ways down, and headed into the hallway.

The room he ended up in was nothing special, not by a long shot, but a dark, dusty tarp outlined a slightly bulky shape.

Yusei pulled the tarp off and ran a hand over the red paint.

* * *

"Stay out of trouble now, okay?" Lucian teased them as he stopped in the doorway. Yusei, Lillith, and Arylwren laughed, while Deirdre and Jocelyn cracked smiles.

"We won't," Yusei joked back. Lillith looked at the four of them before taking off. The sisters followed her without hesitation, and Yusei smiled, before taking off running himself. He didn't follow them, though. They were headed west, for eastern Europe. He was heading east. No, he didn't think he was ready to go check out the place Armand had sent him to, but it was a big place. He'd find his way around.

He was wandering around San Francisco at night about a month later when Jack and Carly dropped in. He smiled at the two. "Hey, guys."

Jack smiled, though it was more of a smirk. "You ran off before we could say goodbye," he stated. Yusei shrugged.

"Yeah, well. I figured, at least you two aren't leaving the planet. Not for a while, at least. So, why bother saying goodbye when I know I'll see you at least a few times a year?" he replied. Carly giggled.

"You've got a good point. Oh, Martha told us to tell you to drop by sometime before she moves," she said. Yusei frowned.

"She's moving? I thought she swore she'd never move out unless she absolutely had to," he commented. Jack crossed his arms.

"Martha's not quite as mortal as we thought. When Carly and I went by to visit a few weeks ago, she saw through us immediately. She's one of the Nephilim, Yusei," he explained. Yusei nodded.

"That makes sense. She'd have to move to keep people from wondering why she wasn't… but, wait a second…" he trailed off. Carly smiled.

"That teardrop necklace she wears? It's a Soul Stone, like what the Immortals use. It gives her a very limited power of illusion," she told him. Yusei smiled.

"Nice to know someone else won't be dying as soon as we thought," he said. Then he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "What happened to Yanagi, by the way? I barely saw him after Heylii's attack," he went on. Jack sighed.

"He went after his little brother, and then said something about finding Tanner," he replied. "And the Nighthawks are heading back to Royce."

Yusei cringed. "Rose is gonna have fun with that," he muttered. Then, frowning again, he added, "Sora and Sabrina? And the rest of the S Gang, for that matter?"

Carly giggled. "S Gang? Fitting, all things considered. And anyway, Sabrina slipped into an alternate dimension. It's still Earth, it's just… not _our_ Earth, at all. Something about finding a Clint Barton and Molly…" she said. Jack nodded.

"Sora's running around somewhere in a forest, and the triplets… Well, Sera died in the attack… Seia and Senna were planning to stay in Neo Domino for a while," he finished. Yusei sighed.

"I really don't want to ask this, but… Halldor?" he asked. Jack wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Castle Silas," he said simply. Yusei nodded.

"Alright. I'll make sure to visit him," he decided. Then he looked out over the town and smirked slightly. "But I think I'm going to go find dinner first."

* * *

**Kairi: So, that's the last actual chapter. I think I covered everyone that's gonna be in the sequel, whether I actually wrote them or they were just mentioned. Anyway, many apologies for the late update. Epilogue's up next.**


	31. Epilogue, No Words For This

**Kairi: So, we actually made it to the epilogue... Shocking, I know. Honestly, when I started this, I thought it would be longer, but the characters all had their own ideas as for what should happen. So, of course, the small but vicious monster that is this fic was born. Well, I'd ramble a little more, lord knows I want to, but I think I'll just go ahead and spare all of your eyes. Also, be on the lookout for Uprising in a couple of months. Until then... Adios, amigos!  
**

**Oh, and one last warning: this takes place a hundred years or so after Chapter 29.**

* * *

**Epilogue – No Words For This**

The raven-haired man walked down the street slowly. His entire outfit was white, a stark contrast to his hair, which was shot through with gold. Blue eyes examined the city around him nostalgically. A light wind took the unzipped corners of his jacket, and it waved around him.

Yusei Fudo had returned to Neo Domino City for the first time since he had left it in favor of becoming a nomad.

It was midday, so most people were working. Those that were on the street were in some form of hovercraft, generally headed for a lift to one of the many monorail stations that littered the city. He was one of the very few who were actually walking about the city at that time.

Blue eyes skimmed over silver buildings as a voice rang out behind him.

"Long time, no see."

Yusei turned and smiled, stopping as the girl walked up to him. Like himself, she was dressed all in white. Her silver blonde hair was bound on the top of her head, while light golden eyes sparkled mischievously.

"Hello, Lillith," Yusei greeted her as they fell in step together. Lillith chuckled.

"I see you've found the bonuses of wearing white," she teased. Yusei smiled.

"Why bother running at human speed when you can pretend to be an android and run as fast as you please?" he countered. The two continued to laugh for a while before they simply walked in silence for a time.

Lillith sighed and gestured to the city around her at random. "Neo Domino has really changed, hasn't it?"

Yusei sighed and nodded. "Yeah. It's a really big shift for me, though. I've been at Castle Silas for the last decade," he told her. Lillith smiled knowingly.

"Akiza?" she asked, as if she needed confirmation.

Much to her surprise, Yusei shook his head. "No, Halldor," he replied.

"Ah…" Lillith nodded slowly. The two men had grown very close after the deaths of Lolliette and Corylle, almost close enough that, had they been of opposite genders, many would have mistaken them for mates. "Crow's back, by the way," she added, changing the subject.

Yusei raised an eyebrow. "Didn't he leave with Kiara? You know, a century ago?" he asked. Lillith smiled.

"Yes, but his wings are a dark gray now, not black. He flew in just this morning, real early. Fell asleep almost as soon as he arrived," she replied. Then she frowned. "He hasn't seen this yet."

Yusei nodded. "He'll have a hard time adjusting," he said quietly. "Even for me, it's…difficult…seeing how much the city… Well, the whole world, really… It's all changed." A sorrowful look crossed his face. "It really brings it into perspective."

Lillith frowned. "Brings what into perspective?" she asked. They were in the outer parts of the city now, in the residential areas.

Yusei sighed. "We're immortal, Lillith. I've watched the whole world change completely, and I'm going to see it again, and again, and again… It's like watching a movie on fast forward," he said.

Lillith took a deep breath. "Yusei, do you know how old I am?" she asked. The man shook his head 'no'. "Two thousand, six hundred eighty-five."

Yusei smiled grimly. "Guess I shouldn't be complaining. I'm only a hundred and… twenty-six, I think. I've actually stopped counting," he admitted. Lillith smiled.

"Two months, and that number will be correct," she told him. Yusei gave her a look, and she sighed. "I've had a lot of time to think, Yusei. When the war was over, I went back down into my cave. I didn't leave for twenty years. I spent eighteen of those without blood. I slept for maybe three or four hours. And I thought." She paused here for a moment, then took another deep breath.

"I've turned exactly five thousand, eight hundred people, Yusei. Only six of them are still alive. Little more than one out of every one thousand," she said. She looked up at Yusei sadly. "My daughters, Rosalie, Trudge, and you."

Yusei looked away from Lillith for a moment to think about that. Roughly two people a year for more than two and a half thousand years, and all but six dead.

He had no idea what to say to that.

Looking around, he realized that they were nearing the ocean. He could hear the wader pounding against rock very clearly.

"Who we are now is not who we will be in thirty years, Yusei," Lillith said. Yusei smirked, and Lillith smacked his arm lightly. "That was uncalled-for," she scolded.

Yusei chuckled. "You probably shouldn't have been in my head, Lil. Besides, it is true," he stated.

Lillith nodded. "Yes. But, barring secluding oneself in a cave for thirty years… And actually, I learned a lot while I was down there. So even then… We do change," she replied. "And… even if we don't do any of it physically… it leaves us with so many options. We've got all of this time to learn, and so much we can do."

Yusei nodded. "I know. Back… when I was still living in Satellite, before… you know… People always said that there was only so much you could get out of life before you ran out of time. Except, you and me… We're practically immortal. Anything we want to do, we can do it," he told her. She smiled.

"Humans… and even younger vampires, to an extent… They just don't understand. They keep saying that their futures are determined by destiny or fate, or that our memories shape who we are," she said as they came to a stop on a platform built on a cliff over the ocean.

"I disagree," Lillith continued. She smiled. "I think… No, that was wrong. I _know_… We are who we want to be. No more, no less."

Yusei let her words sink in as he gazed out over the water. His eyes wandered, finding their way to the north, on his left. He could see the forest that Neo Domino's government was so stubborn about not touching, though he had a feeling that Lillith had something to do with that, and he smiled as he realized exactly where the two of them were standing.

There, for the first time in over a hundred years, in the same spot where it had all started…

Yusei was finally at peace.


End file.
